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Ambassador Frank G. Wisner presented a "Tour D'Horizon" at the Council of American Ambassadors' Fall Conference Potpourri of Diplomacy. He spoke on the world's most pressing foreign affairs issues including religious fundamentalism and power dynamics in the Middle East. Ambassador Wisner served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs, Ambassador to India, Ambassador to Egypt and Ambassador to Zambia. CAA President Timothy A. Chorba introduced Ambassador Wisner and moderated the ensuing Q&A session.

Ambassador Frank G. Wisner

As Foreign Affairs Advisor for Squire Patton Boggs, Ambassador Wisner plays a pivotal role at the firm,leveraging his vast experience in the Middle East, India, Europe and Asia to assist the firm’s domestic and international clients. In addition to his role as Ambassador to Egypt, the Philippines, India and Zambia, he has served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and as Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs. Ambassador Wisner was senior Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs from 1982 to 1986, a time of intense diplomatic engagement in Southern Africa. After graduating from Princeton University in 1961, he joined the State Department as a Foreign Service Officer. His first post was in Algeria immediately after it won independence from France. He then went to Vietnam, where he spent four years at the apex of the war. Ambassador Wisner worked as a senior diplomat in Tunisia and Bangladesh before returning to Washington as Director of Plans and Management in the Bureau of Public Affairs. He served as Deputy Director of the President’s Interagency Task Force on Indochina, the entity responsible for evacuating and settling nearly one million refugees. Later, as Director of the Office of Southern African Affairs, Ambassador Wisner worked closely with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to launch negotiations with Zimbabwe and Namibia. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Ambassador Wisner as the nation’s special representative to the Kosovo Status Talks in 2005 where he played a crucial role in negotiating Kosovo’s independence. Before joining Squire Patton Boggs, Ambassador Wisner served as Vice Chairman of External Affairs for American International Group.