University of New England

Retired U.S. ambassador to lecture on U.S. foreign policy in today's world on Oct. 4th

Stephan M. Minikes, retired U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), will lecture on "Hard vs. Soft Power: Rethinking U.S. Foreign Policy in Today's World" on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2006 at noon in the University of New England's Simard-Pettapiece-Wescott Rooms, Campus Center on the University Campus in Biddeford.

The lecture, free and open to the public, is part of UNE's Core Connections Lecture Series, which will explore the theme of "Empire, or the Illusion Thereof?"

Ambassador Minikes recently returned from serving at the OSCE in Vienna, Austria, where he was deeply involved in the security, economic and political issues that are at the heart of United States relations with our allies in Europe and Central Asia. He will discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the United States in terms of foreign policy in today's world from the practitioner's perspective.

In his lecture the ambassador will give his unique perspective on America's current and past foreign policies, and discuss how these policies influence our country's place in the world.

Stephan M. Minikes
Ambassador Minikes served the current Bush administration as the United States ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, in Vienna, Austria from November 2001 until July 2005. 

Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Minikes practiced law for more than 30 years in Washington, D.C. and New York specializing in national defense, energy, and international trade matters.  He has also served as senior vice president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and in the Pentagon as legal counsel to the chief of Naval Operations.  Ambassador Minikes lectures, principally in university and other academic settings world-wide, on foreign policy, national defense, energy, international trade and finance, and human rights and democracy.  He is a 1961 graduate of Cornell University and a 1964 graduate of the Yale Law School.  Throughout his distinguished career, the ambassador has also received numerous awards and honorary degrees for his professional and civic work. 

For more information, contact Amy Deveau at 602-2813 or adeveau@une.edu.

(Press release issued Sept. 26, 2006)