Conference Recording: 

Panellists

Kerry Buck was Canada’s Ambassador to NATO from 2015-2018. A career diplomat, she was Political Director and Assistant Deputy Minister for International Security and Political Affairs, Canadian Representative at the UN, G7, NATO, OAS, and OSCE on issues of human rights, security, disarmament, terrorism, and humanitarian affairs, and Assistant Secretary to the Treasury Board, Economic Sector. She is currently a senior fellow at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, the Bill Graham Centre at Trinity College, and Senior Mentor at the Canadian Forces College.

Dame Mariot Leslie was the UK’s permanent representative to NATO from 2010-2014. A career British diplomat, her prior appointments included head of the Foreign Office’s policy planning staff; minister and deputy head of mission in the British embassy in Rome; ambassador in Oslo; director defence and strategic threats and counter-terrorism envoy; and immediately before her NATO appointment, director-general for defence and intelligence in the Foreign Office.

Robert Hunter was U.S. Ambassador to NATO from 1993-1998. Previously, he was Vice President for International Politics at CSIS, a member of the NSC Staff, foreign policy advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy, senior fellow at the Overseas Development Council, research assistant at the IISS, and advisor to VP Humphrey. He also was director of the Center for Transatlantic Security at the National Defense University, a member of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board, and a member of the Senior Advisory Group to the U.S. European Command.

Moderator

Stephanie Smith Kinney is a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service. Her diplomatic career included tours of duty in Europe and Latin America as well as multilateral diplomacy under the auspices of the United Nations. Ms. Kinney was one of the three chief U.S. negotiators for the original Framework Convention on Climate Change. A recipient of the Department of State’s Lifetime Achievement Award, she has recently worked as a change management consultant in the private sector, State Department, the American Foreign Service Association, and the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.

Panellists

Guillermo E. Rishchynski is a specialist in Latin American affairs and development.  He was Canada’s Ambassador to Colombia, Brazil, Mexico and the United Nations.  He was former Executive Director for Canada at the Inter-American Development Bank and Vice President of the America’s Branch in the Canadian International Development Agency. 

 Sir Myles Wickstead is a scholar in international development and diplomacy particularly involving Africa. He was British Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union and UK representative at the World Bank Board. He is now Professor (International Relations) at King’s College London and the University of Exeter. His book Aid and Development: A Brief Introduction was published by Oxford University Press in 2015.

Earl Anthony Wayne served as US ambassador to Argentina and Mexico, deputy ambassador to Afghanistan, and Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs. He is a former national security correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor and is now focusing on Latin America, teaching classes at American University in Washington and co-chairing Wilson Centre’s Mexico Institute Board.

Moderator

Alex Bugailiskis is a former Ambassador to Syria, Cuba, Poland and Italy. Served as Assistant Deputy Minister for Latin America and for Europe, the Middle East and the Arctic. She was the Chief Negotiator for the 2016 Canada-EU Strategic Partnership Agreement. In 2023, she became Chair of the International Advisory Committee for the UNU Institute on Water, Environment and Health at McMaster University.