Truth to Power | Richard Haass and Marcie Ries| US Foreign Policy: An Assessment | 4-4-25

On this week's 8th Anniversary Pledge Drive edition of the program, we bring you an insightful community conversation held on March 25, 2025 about “American Foreign Policy: An Assessment” with veteran diplomat, Dr. Richard Haass, and moderator Ambassador Marcie Ries, two Oberlin College alumni from the early 1970s. Dr. Richard Haass is a veteran diplomat, respected scholar of international relations, and president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations. In this program, he offers his observations about the changing course of American foreign policy and the repercussions for the post-World War II world order. He comments on scenarios and implications of what might come next. Ambassador Marcie Ries served as moderator. Dr. Richard Haass ‘73 served as president of the Council on Foreign Relations for twenty years before retiring in 2023, and is now a senior counselor at Centerview Partners, LLC. From January 2001 to June 2003, Dr. Haass was director of policy planning for the Department of State and a principal advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell. From 1989 to 1993, he was special assistant to President George H.W. Bush and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. Previously, he served in the Departments of State (1981–1985) and Defense (1979–1980), and was a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate. A Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Haass holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctorate of philosophy degrees from Oxford University. He has also received numerous honorary degrees and was a member of the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Hamilton College. Dr. Haass is the author or editor of fourteen books on American foreign policy, one book on management, and one on American democracy. He is as well the author of a weekly newsletter Home & Away published on Substack. Marcie B. Ries ’72 is a retired Ambassador with more than thirty-five years of diplomatic experience in Europe, the Caribbean and the Middle East. She is a three-time Chief of Mission, serving as Head of the U.S. Mission in Kosovo (2003-2004), United States Ambassador to Albania (2004-2007) and as United States Ambassador to Bulgaria (2012-2015). She was a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs from 2020-2021, where she co-authored the report “A U.S. Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century.” She was also co-author of Blueprints for a More Modern Diplomatic Service, published by Arizona State University in 2022. She graduated from Oberlin in 1972 and earned a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 7pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at https://forwardradio.org