Matthew Barzun, US Ambassador to the UK, has given a talk at Kent to coincide with the launch of a new diplomacy initiative.
The Ambassador’s talk was organised and hosted by the School of Politics and International Relations (POLIR). Among those invited to this exclusive event, which took place in the Colyer-Fergusson Music Building on the Canterbury campus, were students and staff from POLIR and the Centre for American Studies.
During his hour-long talk, which took the form of a Q&A with the students, Ambassador Barzun addressed a broad range of issues from US foreign policy, and its effect on the world today, to LGBT rights and the ways in which President Obama has developed a ‘new type of leadership from the centre’.
The Ambassador’s visit coincided with the launch of POLIR’s Diplomacy@Kent, one of several Beacon Projects funded by the University to mark its 50th anniversary.
Head of POLIR Professor Richard Whitman, who is also Co-director of Diplomacy@Kent, described Ambassador Barzun’s visit as ‘a tremendous opportunity for students to gain access to one of the most highly regarded and respected diplomats in the world today’.
His fellow Co-director, Professor Feargal Cochrane, described it as ‘the beginning of what promises to be an exciting programme of events and learning opportunities for this already popular Beacon project’.
The Ambassador was welcomed to the University by Professor Whitman and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Keith Mander.