Robert S. Ford, who served 30 years in the U.S. Department of State and Peace Corps, addressed how domestic politics and U.S. strategy intersect in Syria in this talk delivered at the University of Maine.
In 2011, after Syria’s civil war erupted, he traveled to Hama in a display of solidarity with Syrians protesting the rule of Bashar al-Assad. Ford then worked with Syrian opposition forces and was instrumental in bringing them to the Geneva peace talks. He served three times in Iraq between 2003 and 2010, including as the ambassador’s senior political adviser during elections for the new Iraqi government.
Ford's efforts have been recognized and lauded; he has received the Presidential Honor Award and the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award. In 2012, he was presented a Profile in Courage Award by the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston for “courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.”
The resident scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., Ford also teaches at Johns Hopkins University.
This talk was recorded at the University of Maine at Orono on September 22, 2014.
More information about this event is located here: umaine.edu