Ambassador Shirin-Tahir Kheli
August 30, 2015 (Sun) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
UNM Continuing Education Conference Center

Relations with the Muslim world have been an important component of American foreign policy for more than fifty years. Relationships with traditional friends in the fifty-two nation Islamic bloc have varied. In her talk, Ambassador Tahir-Kheli will look at the recent past after the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in order to examine the nature of the relationships between the U.S. and the world of Islam today. We will analyze issues of cooperation and competition that set the parameters of policy. The relationship between domestic components, such as the “Arab Spring” uprisings in several nations in the last few years, and the overall international environment will be discussed. The talk will also focus on a way forward in terms of U.S. foreign policy in a world increasingly interdependent yet often hostile.

Shirin Tahir-Kheli is Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Her focus covers issues relating to: U.S. outreach to the Muslim World, South Asia, Nuclear Nonproliferation, Political-Military Affairs, United Nations, Human Rights; Women’s Empowerment; Social Responsibility of the Private Sector; U.S. Multilateral Diplomacy with particular reference to the United Nations, and Democracy issues. As a senior member of the U.S. government in three stints from 1982-2009, she worked with key foreign and domestic policy advisers around the world in her conduct of U.S. foreign policy. As Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Democracy Human Rights and International Operations, she oversaw the work of the National Security Council in these areas and chaired meetings of other agencies of the U.S. government in matters related to her portfolio.

Supported by Sandia National Labs and Haverland Carter Lifestyle Group