Topics ranging from terrorism to NAFTA to the Trump administration were discussed Wednesday as four of the country’s former ambassadors led the 2018 Omaha Ambassadors Forum at UNO’s Thompson Alumni Center.
James F. Collins, former ambassador to the Russian Federation, Earl A. Wayne, former ambassador to Argentina and Mexico; Susan L. Ziadeh, former ambassador to Qatar; and Deborah A. McCarthy, former ambassador to Lithuania spoke to an audience of community leaders, high school and college students about the current state of international relations.
One topic of concern to Nebraskans is the potential consequences of the U.S.’s involvement in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that’s been in place since 1991. “The president and others have talked about pulling out of NAFTA, which would be a really heavy blow to farmers in the United States,” said Wayne. According to a Jan. 7 article in the Omaha World-Herald, the repeal of NAFTA could mean a potential loss of 90-thousand Nebraska jobs and more than $2.6 billion loss in export revenue. Tensions right now with Mexico are strained as President Trumps seeks to send U.S. troops to police the southern border.
That controversial decision by the President comes on the heels of the firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last month. Tillerson’s replacement, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, is set to take his place. A move that Collins hopes will “bring new stability and new kind of leadership to the organization.”
The event was organized by UNO and the Burlington Capital Group.
By Cade Wolcott
