10 Things I Know about Susan Rice, Obama’s Pick for Ambassador to the United Nations
Susan Rice is Obama’s pick for Ambassador to the United Nations.
Here are 10 things I know.
Susan Rice is a former assistant secretary of state for African Affairs.
While at Brookings Susan Rice focused on U.S. foreign policy, weak and failing states, the implications of global poverty and transnational security threats.
Susan Rice’s expertise – “Africa; war on terrorism; weak and failed states; foreign assistance; international peacekeeping and conflict resolution; national security policymaking; post-conflict reconstruction; trade, development issues; UN affairs and multilateral diplomacy.”
Susan Rice’s past positions:
Senior Advisor for National Security Affairs on the Kerry-Edwards campaign (2004);
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (1997-2001);
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs, the National Security Council, the White House (1995-1997);
Director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping, National Security Council (1993-1995);
Management Consultant, McKinsey and Company (1991-1993)
Susan Rice’s Education – D.Phil. (1990), M.Phil. (1988), Oxford University; B.A., Stanford University, 1986
Susan Rice grew up in Washington, D.C.
Her father is Emmett J. Rice a Cornell University economics professor and former governor of the Federal Reserve System.
Rice’s mother is education policy scholar Lois Dickson Fitt.
Rice is married to ABC News producer Ian O. Cameron.
Susan Rice was a three-sport athlete, student council president, and valedictorian at National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C.,
Rice played point guard in basketball and directed the offense.
The stress on post-conflict reconstruction in Susan Rice’s own expertise, and in the general Obama approach to foreign and security policy, is very timely, and not only because of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Some interesting sites on this include:
http://www.csis.org/isp/pcr/
http://www.iiss.org/conferences/global-strategic-review/global-strategic-review-2008/keynote-address/
and across the pond – http://www.stabilisationunit.gov.uk/
At this time when Keynes is flavor of the month in economic policy, it’s interesting to think how far our approach to post-conflict reconstruction has come since, at and after the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, he had to argue against a veangeful “peace” (on this, see J M Keynes, “The Economic Consequences of the Peace”, 1919, and D Markwell, “John Maynard Keynes and International Relations”, 2006).
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