U.S. Ambassador Thomas Miller will speak at Eastern Michigan’s “America Engages the World: A Public Forum on the International Role of the United States” on Friday, Sept. 11.
Miller, who is currently the president and CEO for the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA), will be discussing “The Foreign Policy Agenda of the Obama Administration” at noon in the Student Center Ballroom.
“America Engages the World: A Public Forum on the International Role of the United States” will be a daylong event that will cover topics from international security to global poverty to climate change.
Other speakers for the event will be from the American Red Cross, Amnesty International, Michigan Peaceworks and the Arab American Center.
“The event will bring together students, citizens and experts to discuss the issues and U. S. participation in the global community,” said Judy Kullberg, an EMU political science professor and an organizer of the event.
Junior Mauyad Mahmoud, the director of student relations and political science major, said, “I’m really excited because I think 9-11 has been a tragic event, but we haven’t been able to discuss how to prevent this happening again in the world.”
Mahmoud said he’s worried some might think the forum is overshadowing the deaths of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but he thinks it will bring to light just how Americans can affect the world. Mahmoud has also been assisting in organizing the forum.
“It’s a good thing to get kids involved on campus, especially going to see an ambassador,” said Keith Dunn, the chairman of the College Republicans on campus.
Miller has had experience in Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cyprus as well as with Plan International, a 72-year agency that focuses on improving the lives of children in third world countries, according to the UNA-USA.
The forum begins at 9 a.m. and will continue until 5:30 p.m.
