For Immediate Release:  August 25, 2006
Contact:  Marsha Nishi Mullan     
610-328-8535      
http://www.swarthmore.edu/news/

Author, Foreign Service Veteran John Kiesling
to Speak at Swarthmore Sept. 12

John Brady Kiesling, foreign service veteran and author of the recently released Diplomacy Lessons: Realism for an Unloved Superpower (Potomac Books, 2006), will speak at Swarthmore College on Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. in the Lang Performing Arts Center.

Kiesling, who graduated from Swarthmore in 1979, is a 20-year veteran of the State Department, having served in Israel, Morocco, Armenia, Washington, and Greece. He publicly resigned his position as political counselor of the U.S. Embassy in Athens in February 2003 to protest the Bush administration's impending invasion of Iraq.

Kiesling will discuss his book, in which he reminds readers that U.S. power does not rest on military might alone and that anger at America has real consequences for U.S. national interests. He calls for a return to realist policy-making that recognized the limits of U.S. power and uses thoughtful diplomacy to legitimize our security requirements in the eyes of our international partners. This book is, at heart, an argument for how to best achieve America's goals abroad. Kiesling's passionate critique of current U.S. foreign policy and his prescription for restoring American influence and legitimacy will interest anyone concerned about the future of U.S. and world affairs. His talk is sponsored by the Department of Political Science.