Christopher Hill
explores political
strategies in Syria
and North Korea
By CALEB CHADWELL
Daily Staff Reporter
Christopher Hill, former
assistant secretary of state and
U.S. ambassador, discussed
current
topics
in
foreign
policy, such as ongoing peace
settlements for conflicts in
Syria and North Korea, at the
Ford School of Public Policy
Monday evening.
Hill
was
nominated
as
an
ambassador
by
three
presidents,
most
recently serving as the U.S.
ambassador
to
Iraq
from
2009 to 2010. He also helped
bring an end to the Bosnian
War
through
the
Dayton
Accords peace agreement in
1995, an agreement which he
said could be applicabble to
current global conflict.
While Hill noted it was
not a complete success in
helping bring about political
change, he said he’s proud of
the Accords in helping to end
a violent and horrific conflict.
“There
were
200,000
people killed in the Balkans,
there were rape camps and all
kinds of hideous things that
had to be stopped,” Hill said.
Speaking to to ongoing
situations with Syria, North
Korea, China and Iran today,
he said there were parallel
that could be drawn.
Hill said after negotiating
an
end
to
the
Bosnian
conflict, he learned that a
key to reaching agreements
is a willingness to work and
negotiate with all different
parties involved. He added
that though it’s not always
fun, to reach peace conflicting
parties
must
communicate
with each other.
Touching
on
his
experiences serving as the
U.S. ambassador to South
Korea and assistant secretary
of state, Hill said though
North Korea was one of the
most difficult countries he
dealt with as a diplomat, he
thought the United States
still needed to attempt to
make agreements with the
country.
“These are people only
a mother can love; I have
never had such an unpleasant
experience as I did with
North Korea,” Hill said.
He added that while over
half of the people in the
Republican
Party
today
refuse to negotiate with
North Korea, he commends
former President George
W. Bush for opening up
diplomatic relations with
them during his tenure.
Nuclear weapons, Hill
said, is the biggest challenge
for U.S. diplomacy today.
“Look
at
Hiroshima,
could we handle another
Hiroshima in this world?
I don’t think so,” Hill
said. “I think the issue is
how to stop these nuclear
wannabes.”
China could play a role in
putting pressure on North
Korea and their nuclear
program,
Hill
noted.
However, he stressed that
the United States needs
to be more transparent with
China for them to consider
potentially imposing heavier
sanctions
against
North
Korea.
Speaking to the current
civil war in Syria involving
President Bashar al-Assad,
the rebels and ISIS, Hill
cautioned
the
audience
against
harshly
criticizing
people
working
to
obtain
peace in the country.
“I think Syria is a hideous
situation,
probably
even
worse than Bosnia was,” Hill
said. “It’s easy to be critical of
the people working on it, but
you’ve got to understand the
degree of difficulty that they
have to contend with.”
Hill stressed the need for
the political parties of the
United States to pull together
and propose a bipartisan plan
to reach peace in Syria.
When asked his opinion
on the recently implemented
nuclear deal with Iran, Hill
said while the deal does limit
Iran’s nuclear capability, it
also unfreezes Iranian assets
that they could use to support
terrorist organizations such
as Hezbollah.
In closing, Hill talked about
how enjoyable and fulfilling it
was to serve as a diplomat, and
encouraged students not to be
afraid of pursuing a career
with the State Department.
“There’s
no
country
in
the world that’s more fun
to defend than the United
States,” Hill said. “American
diplomacy
should
be
something that we do, and do
very well.”
Public
Policy
senior
Madeline Hartlieb said she
attended the talk because she
is interested in foreign policy
and pursuing diplomacy in
the future.
“Just to hear how outspoken
(Hill) was, especially given
how morbid the foreign policy
scene can seem — I would
definitely say that it was
inspiring,” Hartlieb said.
Public Policy junior Swathi
Shanmugasundaram
said
she
enjoyed
hearing
Hill
speak because of his career
experience
and
her
own
interest in foreign policy.
“It’s easy to get down on
yourself
and
your
career
path,
especially
as
an
undergraduate student and
seeing everyone pass you,”
Shanmugasundaram
said.
“But to hear Ambassador Hill
talk about how his career
started and how it’s flourished
is
awesome,
because
you
think ‘Wow, maybe I can do
that too.’”
2 — Tuesday, January 26, 2016
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TACKLE AT TROT TE R
LSA sophomore Michael
Funkhouser recently
created a video resume of
his achievements, posted
on Facebook, in hopes
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internship on “The Ellen
DeGeneres Show.”
Could you describe your
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it?
I made a video to try and
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or hopefully she says,
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Social media is what I
know. It’s honestly one
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I don’t know how else
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applied online, on her
website.
—JENNIFER MEER
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Former ambassador discusses
foreign policy at Ford School
HALEY MCLAUGHLILN/Dailly
Christopher Hill, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, discusses his opinions on the current state of foreign policy in
the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy on Monday.
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