Hear the insightful and popular annual U.S. Foreign Policy Update with Diplomat in Residence and former career Foreign Service Officer, Tom Hanson. Tom explored and discussed the latest foreign policy developments, trends, and challenges facing the U.S. including a look at the impacts of Russia’s war in Ukraine, increasing tensions between the U.S. and China, and movements to promote peace and human rights from Ethiopia to Iran.

The event included a Q&A session with Tom, moderated by Molly Hayes Baril, Great Decisions speaker and former foreign affairs officer.

About Tom Hanson

Thomas Hanson is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State whose diplomatic postings included East Germany, France, Norway, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.  He also participated in the opening of new U.S. embassies in Mongolia and Estonia, worked on the Foreign Relations Committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and served as Director for NATO and European Affairs at the Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Hanson currently is Diplomat in Residence at the Alworth Institute for International Affairs at the University of Minnesota – Duluth and has taught diplomacy at Carleton College.  He also serves as Chair of the Minnesota Committee on Foreign Relations and as Co-Chair of the Minnesota China Business Council. He is a past board member of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights and Director at the Institute for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (IEECA).

As a member of the Great Decisions advisory committee of Global Minnesota, Mr. Hanson speaks frequently on international issues and contributes to local and international media.  He is a member of the U.S. Foreign Policy Working Group of the British International Studies Association (BISA) as well as the Council of Advisers at the Museum of Russian Art and the Minnesota Peace Initiative (MPI) at Norway House.

Mr. Hanson holds a BA degree from the University of Minnesota and graduate degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; the Institute of Advanced International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland; and the National School of Administration (ENA) in Paris, France.

About Molly Hayes Baril

As a Foreign Affairs Officer with the State Department from 2008-2014, Molly Hayes Baril served as a policy advisor in various positions related to civilian security (human rights, refugee policy, and counterterrorism policy). Since returning to Minnesota, she has served as program director for a local refugee resettlement agency; deputy chief of staff and speechwriter to the president of the University of Minnesota; and special advisor for global engagement at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Molly is also a 2020-2025 Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an independent consultant and printmaker. She holds an MPA from the Humphrey School, a graduate certificate in international relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and a BA in English and Arabic from the University of Notre Dame.

Presented in partnership with the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

 

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