Key issues facing President Obama’s new national security team will be the topic of a discussion by Washington Post editor and columnist David Ignatius at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 1, at the University of Wyoming Conference Center at the Hilton Garden Inn.

The talk, free and open to the public, is part of UW’s new Excellence Initiative in Global Studies. Created in 2006 by the Wyoming State Legislature, the endowment brings distinguished scholars and educators to Wyoming. The legislation directed UW to strengthen instruction and research in disciplines related to economic and social challenges facing Wyoming.

“With his extensive experience as a foreign policy correspondent, he will provide an insider’s view of the issues and personalities that shape U.S. foreign policy,” says Jean Garrison, Global & Area Studies director. “He will share insights on key issues that will dominate the next four years, including Iran and Syria, the wider Arab revolution, Afghanistan in post-America occupation and China.

During his career, Ignatius has covered a range of assignments including the Justice Department, the CIA and the U.S. Senate. He also has extensive experience as a Middle East correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and served as its chief diplomatic correspondent. In 1985, he received the Edward Weintal Prize for Diplomatic Reporting.

He joined The Washington Post in 1986, served as the paper’s foreign editor and oversaw its Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. In 1999, he began writing a twice-weekly column on global politics, economics and international affairs. The column is syndicated worldwide by The Washington Post Writers Group. The column won the 2000 Gerald Loeb Award for Commentary and a 2004 Edward Weintal Prize.

Ignatius’ writing also has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Affairs, The New Republic and Talk Magazine.

Garrison says the talks augment a course following the theme “America and the World in 2020,” in which faculty and students tackle emerging human security challenges that test U.S. foreign policy.

For more information, email Garrison at garrison@uwyo.edu or call the Global & Area Studies main office at (307) 766-3423.

More From Y95 Country