In his keynote speech at the U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium on May 30, 2019, Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering explains the shift towards multi-polarity in the current world order and highlights seven key issues, from growth and development to weapons of mass destruction, confronting U.S. foreign policy. He discusses how some of these issues can be potential areas for collaboration between the United States and China, including climate change and cyberspace.
The annual U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium (FPC) is an exclusive four-day program designed to provide 75 Chinese graduate students from universities across the United States with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the complex forces that shape American foreign policy and inform the U.S.-China relationship. The program is run annually by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and gives participants rare access into some of the capital’s most important foreign policy-making institutions, such as the Department of State and the National Security Council, where they meet with individuals responsible for crafting and influencing policy.
Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering is vice chair of Hills and Company, an international consulting firm providing advice to U.S. businesses on investment, trade, and risk assessment issues abroad. Ambassador Pickering served as the U.S. ambassador and representative to the United Nations under President George H.W. Bush, where he led the U.S. effort to build a global coalition during and after the first Gulf War. He also served as the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs under President Bill Clinton.