Struggle for the Future of Myanmar
By the time that this program will go live, the situation in Myanmar could look a lot worse. Experts former Amb. Scot Marciel and Lynn Salinger join PCFR to speak about Myanmar’s history and what’s at stake in a country in decline. Myanmar is unique in that the entire country is united against a military coup, likening it to a foreign occupying force. The combination of economic decline between high unemployment in urban areas and worsening conditions for farmers, coupled with a cash shortage makes for a humanitarian crisis in the making. Myanmar’s geostrategic direction is important for the Indo-Pacific region. Charles Gerard Ripley, an instructor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University, will moderate the discussion.
Registration
FREE for PCFR Members
$10 for Non-Members
Schedule
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
12:00 pm-1:00 pm MST
3:00 pm-4:00 pm EDT
Venue
Zoom Meeting
The link for this webinar will be included in your registration confirmation email.
Speakers
Amb. Scot Marciel
Former U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar
Scot Marciel is a Visiting Scholar and Practitioner Fellow on Southeast Asia at Stanford University’s Walter Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center. A career Foreign Service Officer, he most recently served as the U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar from March 2016 through May 2020. He also has served as U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia.
Mr. Marciel has more than 36 years of experience as a diplomat in Asia and around the world, including in Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Turkey and Brazil. Mr. Marciel earned an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a BA in International Relations from the University of California at Davis.
Lynn Salinger
Nathan Associates
Lynn Salinger is a development economist and Principal Associate with Nathan Associates, an economic advisory services firm based in Arlington, Virginia. She works from her home in Concord, Massachusetts.
Among her areas of expertise, she has worked on labor markets, workforce development, agriculture and food policy, and trade integration and facilitation, during a 37-year career focused on Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and North Africa.
Since 2015, Lynn has supported two economic growth programs for the United States Agency for International Development in Burma/Myanmar, implemented by Nathan Associates. She currently tracks the impacts of the February 2021 military coup on the country’s macroeconomy, trade and investment flows, and households.
Lynn received her B.A. in political science and German from Tufts University and her master’s degree in international economic development from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, at Tufts.
Moderator
Charles Ripley
School of Politics and Global Studies
Arizona State University
Charles Gerard Ripley III is an instructor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University, where he received his doctorate in 2013. His major fields of study are international relations and comparative politics with an emphasis on statistical analysis, U.S. foreign policy, international political economy, and Latin American politics. Before coming to Arizona, Charles taught for five years at the Jesuit University of Central America in Managua, Nicaragua. He continues to do field work throughout Central and South America.
Professor Ripley has published a broad range of peer-reviewed articles on global themes such the impact of privatization in Nicaragua, the role of monetary unions in South America, and Colombia's internal security. He recently finished the article "Discourse in Foreign Policy" for Oxford University Press (2017) and The Central American Court of Justice (1907-1918): Rethinking the World’s First Court (2018). He is currently working on a book on professional career development. His research has been cited in influential academic and policy literature such as The International Handbook of Energy Security (2013), the Central Bank of Bolivia (2014), and Asian Worlds in Latin America (2016). Charles' articles have been cited in over ten languages. A recent article "Venezuela, Violence and the New York Times" (2017) attracted the attention of world-famous intellectual Noam Chomsky, who lauded the research for being "very valuable."
In addition to formal study, Professor Ripley has experience beyond academic scholarship. He has worked at the U.S. Embassy's North American Cultural Center in Nicaragua, the United Nations, the Danish Embassy, and KPMG International. Professor Ripley was nominated for the ASASU Centennial Professor Award (2013) and became the first recipient of the Michael Mitchell Outstanding Teacher Award (2016). A year later, he won the prestigious College of Liberal Arts and Sciences' Outstanding Lecturer Award (2017). Earlier in his career, Professor Ripley was awarded the Outstanding Case Study Award and the Outstanding Student Award from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he received his master of science (2007). Currently, he serves as a senior research fellow at the Council of Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) in Washington D.C.
