Since 2001, the Vermont Council on World Affairs has maintained a proud tradition of welcoming distinguished diplomats, who come to Vermont to exchange views on issues of international importance.

Building on its distinguished tradition as the leading foreign-affairs non-profit organization in the state, the Vermont Council on World Affairs seeks support for this unique program.

VCWA Ambassador Series

Vermonters interested in understanding the ever-changing and increasingly connected world in which they live benefit from the opportunity to hear directly from global leaders. At the same time, Vermont is attractive to leaders of this level of achievement because it is increasingly on the world map as an incubator for cutting-edge programs in a number of areas such as energy, the environment and community-building, and as a place where the citizenry is informed and engaged and where public and private sector leaders are committed and accessible.

Ambassador Visit Highlights

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Previous Ambassador Speakers

Speakers since 2001 have included :

  • Ambassador Kelley Currie Former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues

    Ambassador Eric Ruben Former U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria (webinar)

    Ambassador John Herbst Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine & Uzbekistan

  • Ambassador Ronald Neumann, Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Bahrain and Algeria (webinar)

  • Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas, Former U.S. Ambassador to Senegal (webinar)

    Ambassador Charles Ray, U.S. Ambassador to Kingdom of Cambodia and Republica of Zimbabwe (webinar)

    Ambassador Nancy Powell, Former U.S. Ambassador to India (webinar)

    Ambassador Robert “Skipp” Orr, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank (webinar)

    Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty, Former Ambassador of India to Peru and Bolivia (webinar)

  • Ambassador Huang Ping, Former Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe

  • Ambassador Daniel Mulhall, Irish Ambassador to the U.S.

    Ambassador Floreta Faber, Albanian Ambassador to the U.S.

  • Ambassador Peter Galbraith Former U.S Ambassador to Croatia

    Ms. Bayan Sami Abdul Rahamn, Kurdistan Representative to the U.S.

    Ambassador Haim Koren, the former Israeli Ambassador to South Sudan and Egypt

  • Ambassador Robert Ford, Former U.S. Ambassador to Syria

    Ambassador Peter Kmec, Ambassador to the U.S. from the Slovak Republic

  • H.E. Eerik Marmei, Ambassador of Estonia to the United States

    H.E. Johnnie Carson, former U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe

  • H.E. James Smith, Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudia Arabia

    Ambassador Maen Rashid Areikat, Ambassador of the General Delegation of the PLO to the United States

    Ambassador Gary Doer, Ambassador of Canada to the United States

  • Ambassador Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Ambassador of Singapore to the United States

    Ambassador Zoran Jolevski, Ambassador of Macedonia to the United States

  • Ambassador François Delattre, Ambassador of France to the United States

    Ambassador Michael Collins, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States

    Ambassador Petr Gandalovič, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States

  • Ambassador Claudia Fritsche, Ambassador of Liechtenstein to the United States

    Qubad Talabani, Special Representative of the Regional Government of Kurdistan to the U.S.

    Ambassador Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida’ie, Ambassador of Iraq to the United States

  • Ambassador Jon Huntsman, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to China (webinar)

    Ambassador Wegger Christian Strømmen, Ambassador of Norway to the United States

    Ambassador Jeffrey Lunstead, former U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka

    Ambassador Friis Arne Petersen, Ambassador of Denmark to the United States

    Ambassador Peter Galbraith, former U.S. Amb. to Croatia and U.N. Special Envoy to Afghanistan

  • Ambassador Aziz Mekouar, Ambassador of Morocco to the United States

  • Ambassador Pekka Lintu, Ambassador of Finland to the United States

    Ambassador Madeleine Kunin, former U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland

  • Ambassador Dennis Hays, former U.S. Ambassador to Suriname

  • Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, Ambassador of China to the United States

  • Ambassador Barbara Masakela, Ambassador of South Africa to the United States

    Ambassador William Harrop, former U.S. Ambassador to Kenya and Israel

  • Ambassador Ron Spiers, Career Amb. and former Undersecretary-General of the U.N.

  • Ambassador Juan Carlos Vignaud, Ambassador of Argentina to the United States

  • Ambassador Sung-Chul Yung, Ambassador of South Korea to the United States

What People Are Saying

 “During my trip to Vermont I had the opportunity to address the state legislature, meet with students and teachers, and thank Vermont’s National Guard for their sacrifices and role in fighting for democracy in Iraq.  The Vermont Council on World Affairs makes an important contribution to our public discourse by sponsoring trips like this because it is vitally important to have an open exchange of ideas on issues of international importance.”

   -H.E. Samir Sumaida’ie, Ambassador of Iraq to the United States

“Norway and Vermont are faced with many of the same political concerns, spanning from energy and environmental issues to health and pension reforms. My visit to Vermont taught me a great deal about our common challenges.“

     -H.E. Wegger Christian Strømmen, Ambassador of Norway to the United States