LYME/OLD LYME — Southeast Connecticut World Affairs Council (SECWAC) hosts its next meeting, Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m. when Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft will speak to a new paradigm for US foreign policy in the Middle East — one that de-emphasizes the use of military force, while increasing diplomatic engagement.
The meeting will be held via Zoom. Registration is required. The link to join the meeting will be emailed with your registration confirmation.
The meeting is free for members, with guests charged $20.
The case is laid out in an article published by the Quincy Institute and authored by Paul Pillar, Andrew Bacevich (a SECWAC alumnus, who spoke in November 2016), Annelle Sheline, and Trita Parsi. Click HERE to access the article.
Whether you agree or disagree with this argument, join the meeting and engage in the conversation.
Parsi was born in Iran but moved with his family at the age of four to Sweden in order to escape political repression in Iran. His father was an outspoken academic, who was jailed by the Shah and then by the Ayatollah. He moved to the United States as an adult and studied foreign policy at Johns Hopkins’ School for Advanced International Studies, where he received his Ph.D. under Francis Fukuyama and Zbigniew Brzezinski.
He is the co-founder and former President of the National Iranian American Council. Parsi has followed Middle East politics through work in the field and extensive experience on Capitol Hill and at the United Nations. He is frequently consulted by Western and Asian governments on foreign policy matters.
Parsi has worked for the Swedish Permanent Mission to the UN, where he served in the Security Council, handling the affairs of Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan, and Western Sahara, and in the General Assembly’s Third Committee, addressing human rights in Iran, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Iraq.
In addition to his Ph.D., Parsi holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Uppsala University and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.
He has served as an adjunct professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS, New York University, and George Washington University, as well as an adjunct scholar at the Middle East Institute and as a Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington DC.
He currently teaches at Georgetown University in Washington DC.
He is fluent in Persian/Farsi, English, and Swedish. Parsi’s articles on Middle East affairs have been published in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, Jane’s Intelligence Review, the Nation, The American Conservative, the Jerusalem Post, The Forward, and others.
He is a frequent guest on CNN, PBS’s Newshour, NPR, the BBC, and Al Jazeera.