Diplomacy Displayed in Ambassador’s Address
In an address to more than 100 people at the Sanford Institute, Ambassador David C. Litt touched on well-known themes of American diplomacy

By James Todd

Listen to Litt’s remarks on:

The challenge and importance of collaboration between diplomats and the military
How diplomats can try to affect U.S. foreign policy
A proposal for a State Department "future visioning center

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004 -- David C. Litt is, after all, a diplomat, so it was not surprising that he deftly avoided controversial topics such as Secretary of State Colin Powell’s resignation during his lecture Wednesday, Nov. 17, on the policies and procedures of the U.S. Foreign Service.

Instead, Litt touched on well-known themes of American approaches to diplomacy: the need for governmental departments, including the military, to collaborate; the importance of international cultural exchange programs; the increasing role of foreign media in international relations; and a thirst for democratic attributes in Muslim countries.

The lecture’s title, "Challenges for Diplomacy in the Age of Terrorism: A Personal View," attracted more than 100 people, including students studying political science, to the Terry Sanford Institute for Public Policy.

After serving in diplomatic posts in countries such as Niger, Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates as well as at U.S. military command centers, Litt’s latest assignment is here at Duke. While here, he is charged with recruiting area students into the State Department.

He speaks eight languages, including Arabic and Dari, but stuck to English during his talk.

Litt pointed to diplomatic successes in which he participated, including democratic reforms in Niger begun in 1990 and the emergence over the last two decades of the United Arab Emirates as "a model of further transformation of the Persian Gulf region."

He extolled the efforts of Powell, who he said successfully increased the State Department’s staff, funding and training programs.

Eric Geller, a sophomore and political science major, commented after the talk: "It was interesting … how [diplomacy] really starts on the ground and working with people there in countries where terrorism is breeding,"

Junior Jonathan Wallace, also a political science major, said he wants to pursue a career in the Foreign Service or international security. For him, the talk provided the chance to "from someone who has done what I want to do, hear what their personal views are."

Senior Antoine Artiganave, another political science major, said he appreciated Litt’s "technical" and "pragmatic" discussion of diplomacy, which he said contrasted with the theoretical arguments about public policy he often hears on campus.

Susan Stigant, a World Peace Scholar at a Rotary Center for International Studies run jointly by Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, acknowledged the diplomatic challenge Litt faced in giving his talk.

"Being an American diplomat at this point is very difficult," she said, "especially being in an academic institution where people are looking for quite a bit of critical thought about what’s going on, but still at the same time needing to represent foreign policy as it’s set up by the government. I think that’s an unenviable position."

"People might be able to appreciate some of the changes that have been made in the State Department," Stigant said. “But I think they’re probably looking for stronger answers on the human rights side."

Laughing at the diplomatic balance of her own comments, she added, "I’m training to be a diplomat, too."