Former Ambassadors to discuss U.S. image abroad

Richard Celeste, former governor of Ohio and former Ambassador to India, and Cynthia Schneider, former Ambassador to the Netherlands, will discuss “Cultural Diplomacy and the Image of the United States Abroad,” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday (5/1) in the Mershon Center, 1501 Neil Ave.

The speakers will explore the political issues of cultural diplomacy. In 1997, Celeste became the U.S. Ambassador to India, a post he held until 2001. He also served as a state representative from 1970 to 1974. From 1974 to 1978, he served as Ohio’s lieutenant governor and then as governor from 1982 to 1990. During her tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1998 to 2001, Schneider was involved in the War Crimes Tribunal investigating Slobodan Milosevic and the Lockerbie Trial.

This event is the first of six symposia organized by the Mershon Center and the OSU Area Studies Centers on Cultural Diplomacy and the Image of the United States in the World. Each of these events will cover a different region of the world, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, East Asia and South Asia.

The Mershon Center promotes the interdisciplinary study of international security and public policy.

WHAT: Richard Celeste, former governor of Ohio and former Ambassador to India, and Cynthia Schneider, former Ambassador to the Netherlands, will discuss “Cultural Diplomacy and the Image of the United States Abroad.”

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Thursday (5/1)

WHERE: Mershon Center, 1501 Neil Ave.

WHY: To explore political issues of cultural diplomacy