SAIS China Global Research Center to host Ambassadors Chas W. Freeman, Winston Lord, and J. Stapleton Roy for a conversation marking the 50th anniversary of President Nixon’s China trip
MEDIA ADVISORY
On Wednesday, February 23, The SAIS China Global Research Center (SCGRC) at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) will host Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, former U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs; Ambassador Winston Lord, former U.S. Ambassador to China and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; and Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy, former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, China, and Indonesia, and Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, for a discussion commemorating the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s trip to China.
SAIS Dean James B. Steinberg will provide introductory remarks, followed by a moderated discussion by Andrew Mertha, George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies and inaugural director of the SCGRC, and Susan Thornton, Senior Fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School and former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
The SCGRC is a new institution at Johns Hopkins SAIS premised on knowledge creation and engagement vital to the U.S.-China bilateral relationship, and seeks to inform multiple constituencies on how to best engage on and foster U.S.-Sino relations. For more information, visit @ChinaSais.
Speakers
Introduction
James B. Steinberg
Dean, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Introduction
James B. Steinberg
Dean, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Chas W. Freeman
Former U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
Former U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
Ambassador Winston Lord
Former U.S. Ambassador to China and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy
Former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, China, and Indonesia, and Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
Former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, China, and Indonesia, and Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
Moderators
Andrew Mertha
George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies and Inaugural Director of the SAIS China Global Research Center, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Andrew Mertha
George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies and Inaugural Director of the SAIS China Global Research Center, Johns Hopkins SAIS
Susan Thornton
Senior Fellow, Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Senior Fellow, Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Time and Date
6:00 P.M. EST
6:00 P.M. EST
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Registration
This event is open to the public and media, with registration.
Media Contact
Jason Lucas
Senior Media Relations Manager
Johns Hopkins University
+1 (443) 301-7993
[email protected]
About the Speakers
Registration
This event is open to the public and media, with registration.
Media Contact
Jason Lucas
Senior Media Relations Manager
Johns Hopkins University
+1 (443) 301-7993
[email protected]
About the Speakers
James B. Steinberg is the 10th Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Most recently, he served as the University Professor of Social Science, International Affairs, and Law at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where he was also Dean from 2011 to 2016. Before joining Syracuse University, he was Deputy Secretary of State from 2009 to 2011, serving as the principal deputy to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. From 2005 to 2008, Steinberg held the role of Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. Prior to joining the University of Texas, he was vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution from 2001 to 2005. From 1996 to 2000, Steinberg served as Deputy National Security Advisor to President Bill Clinton. During this time, he also served as the president’s personal representative to the 1998 and 1999 G8 summits. Before the Deputy National Security Advisor role, Steinberg held positions as director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Analysis at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
Steinberg’s most recent books are A Glass Half Full? Rebalance, Reassurance and Resolve in the U.S.-China Relationship and Strategic Reassurance and Resolve: U.S.-China Relations in the 21st Century. Steinberg wrote both books with Michael O’Hanlon. His recent book chapters and articles include: “Too Much History: American Policy and East Asia in the Shadow of the Past” in Texas National Security Review; “Present at the ‘Re-Creation’: The Role of the State Department in Formulating and Implementing U.S. Global Policy” in America’s National Security Architecture; “United States: Grappling with Rising Powers” in Shaper Nations: Strategies for a Changing World; and “History, Policymaking, and the Balkans: Lessons Imported and Lessons Learned” in The Power of the Past, History and Statecraft. Steinberg is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and recognitions, including the CIA Director's Medal, Joseph J. Kruzel Memorial Award from the American Political Science Association, and Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award.
Steinberg’s most recent books are A Glass Half Full? Rebalance, Reassurance and Resolve in the U.S.-China Relationship and Strategic Reassurance and Resolve: U.S.-China Relations in the 21st Century. Steinberg wrote both books with Michael O’Hanlon. His recent book chapters and articles include: “Too Much History: American Policy and East Asia in the Shadow of the Past” in Texas National Security Review; “Present at the ‘Re-Creation’: The Role of the State Department in Formulating and Implementing U.S. Global Policy” in America’s National Security Architecture; “United States: Grappling with Rising Powers” in Shaper Nations: Strategies for a Changing World; and “History, Policymaking, and the Balkans: Lessons Imported and Lessons Learned” in The Power of the Past, History and Statecraft. Steinberg is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and recognitions, including the CIA Director's Medal, Joseph J. Kruzel Memorial Award from the American Political Science Association, and Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award.
Ambassador Chas W. Freeman is currently a visiting scholar at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. He was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 1993 to 1994, earning the highest public service awards of the Department of Defense for his roles in designing a NATO-centered post-Cold War European security system and in reestablishing defense and military relations with China. Ambassador Watson served as U. S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm). He was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the historic U.S. mediation of Namibian independence from South Africa and Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola.
Ambassador Freeman served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires in the American embassies in Bangkok from1984 to 1986 and Beijing from 1981 to 1984. He was Director for Chinese Affairs at the U.S. Department of State from 1979 to 1981. Ambassador Freeman was the principal American interpreter during President Richard Nixon’s path-breaking visit to China in 1972. In addition to his Middle Eastern, African, East Asian, and European diplomatic experience, he served in India.
Additionally, Ambassador Freeman is chairman of the board of Projects International, Inc., a Washington-based business development firm that specializes in arranging international joint ventures, acquisitions, and other business operations for its American and foreign clients. Following retirement from the government, he served concurrently as co-chair of the United States China Policy Foundation, president of the Middle East Policy Council, and vice-chair of the Atlantic Council of the United States. Ambassador Freeman is the recipient of numerous high honors and awards. He is the author of three books on U.S. foreign policy and two on statecraft. He was the editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on “diplomacy.” He is a sought-after speaker on a wide variety of foreign policy issues.
Ambassador Winston Lord served as U.S. Ambassador to China from 1985 to 1989. He was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in 1993. Before assuming his duties, Ambassador Lord served as chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, vice-chairman of the International Rescue Committee, and chairman of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s National Commission on America and the New World.
From 1973 to 1977, he was Director of the Policy Planning Staff. Ambassador Lord was a Foreign Service Officer from 1961 to 1967, during which time he was assigned in Washington to the Congressional relations, political-military, and economic affairs staffs, and abroad in Geneva. He has also served in the U.S. Government outside the Department of State as Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor from 1970 to 1973, on the National Security Council staff from 1969 to 1970, and on the Policy Planning Staff in International Security Affairs at the Defense Department from 1967 to 1969. From 1977 to 1985, Ambassador Lord was president of the Council on Foreign Relations. He also has been a member of the Asia Society, the American Academy of Diplomacy, the America-China Society, and the Aspen Institute of Distinguished Fellows. Among the awards Ambassador Lord has received are the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award and the Defense Department’s Outstanding Performance Award.
Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy is a Distinguished Scholar and Founding Director Emeritus of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Ambassador Roy was born in China and spent much of his youth there during the upheavals of World War II and the communist revolution, where he watched the battle for Shanghai from the roof of the Shanghai American School. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service immediately after graduating from Princeton in 1956, retiring 45 years later with the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest in the service.
From 1973 to 1977, he was Director of the Policy Planning Staff. Ambassador Lord was a Foreign Service Officer from 1961 to 1967, during which time he was assigned in Washington to the Congressional relations, political-military, and economic affairs staffs, and abroad in Geneva. He has also served in the U.S. Government outside the Department of State as Special Assistant to the National Security Advisor from 1970 to 1973, on the National Security Council staff from 1969 to 1970, and on the Policy Planning Staff in International Security Affairs at the Defense Department from 1967 to 1969. From 1977 to 1985, Ambassador Lord was president of the Council on Foreign Relations. He also has been a member of the Asia Society, the American Academy of Diplomacy, the America-China Society, and the Aspen Institute of Distinguished Fellows. Among the awards Ambassador Lord has received are the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award and the Defense Department’s Outstanding Performance Award.
Ambassador J. Stapleton Roy is a Distinguished Scholar and Founding Director Emeritus of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Ambassador Roy was born in China and spent much of his youth there during the upheavals of World War II and the communist revolution, where he watched the battle for Shanghai from the roof of the Shanghai American School. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service immediately after graduating from Princeton in 1956, retiring 45 years later with the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest in the service.
In 1978, Ambassador Roy participated in the secret negotiations that led to the establishment of U.S.-PRC diplomatic relations. During a career focused on East Asia and the Soviet Union, his ambassadorial assignments included Singapore, China, and Indonesia. Ambassador Roy’s final post with the State Department was as Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Research. Following retirement, he joined Kissinger Associates, Inc., a strategic consulting firm, before joining the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in September 2008 to head the newly created Kissinger Institute. In 2001, he received Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Public Service.
Andrew Mertha is the George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies, director of the China Studies Program, and inaugural director of the SAIS China Global Research Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). From 2019 to 2021, Mertha served as the Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs and International Research Cooperation at SAIS. He specializes in Chinese bureaucratic politics, political institutions, and the domestic and foreign policy process. More recently, Mertha expanded his research interests to include Cambodia.
Mertha has written three books, The Politics of Piracy: Intellectual Property in Contemporary China, China’s Water Warriors: Citizen Action and Policy Change, and Brothers in Arms: Chinese Aid to the Khmer Rouge, 1975-1979. His articles have appeared in The China Quarterly, Comparative Politics, International Organization, Issues & Studies, CrossCurrents, and Orbis. Mertha’s comments have appeared in the Associated Press, BusinessWeek, The Cambodia Daily, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He has also provided commentary on National Public Radio, BBC, and Voice of America. Mertha currently serves on the editorial committees for the Journal of Comparative Politics, The China Quarterly, and Asian Survey.
Mertha previously provided public testimony for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, briefed the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and accompanied a U.S. congressional staff delegation to Beijing, Xinjiang, and Shanghai to discuss issues of terrorism and narcotics trafficking. Additionally, he is vice president of the Center for Khmer Studies (CKS), a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and an alumnus of the NCUSCR Public Intellectuals Program, 2008-2010.
Susan A. Thornton is a retired senior U.S. diplomat with almost three decades of experience with the U.S. State Department in Eurasia and East Asia. She is currently a Senior Fellow and Visiting Lecturer in Law at the Yale Law School Paul Tsai China Center. Thornton is also the director of the Forum on Asia-Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Until July 2018, Thornton served as Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State and led East Asia policy making amid crises with North Korea, escalating trade tensions with China, and a fast-changing international environment. In previous State Department roles, she worked on U.S. policy toward China, Korea, and the former Soviet Union. She also served in leadership positions at U.S. embassies in Central Asia, Russia, the Caucasus, and China.
Thornton received her M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and her B.A. from Bowdoin College in Economics and Russian. She serves on several nonprofit boards and speaks Mandarin and Russian.
Johns Hopkins SAIS
A division of Johns Hopkins University, the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a global institution that offers students an international perspective on today's critical issues. For more than 75 years, Johns Hopkins SAIS has produced great leaders, thinkers, and practitioners of international relations. Public leaders and private sector executives alike seek the counsel of the faculty, whose ideas and research inform and shape policy. Johns Hopkins SAIS offers a global perspective across three campus locations: Bologna, Italy; Nanjing, China; and Washington, D.C. The school's interdisciplinary curriculum is strongly rooted in the study of international economics, international relations, and regional studies, preparing students to address multifaceted challenges in the world today.
For more information, visit sais.jhu.edu or on Twitter @SAISHopkins
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Date:
Wednesday, February 23, 2022