Guest Speech of the Ambassador of the USA; H.E. Ms. Susan McCaw

As a continuation of excellent cooperation with the Amerika Haus (distinguished authors; prof. Burke, prof. Balmer, prof. Rakove) and the US Embassy Vienna (the US Secretary Chao visit and the Ambassador’s lunch with the IMC students), the IMC Export Department, under the auspices of the Chair for International, Legal and Global Political Studies, was inviting the US Ambassador to Austria H.E. Ms. Susan McCaw for a visit and guest lecture on 09th May 2007. The Ambassador gave an excellent overview on the currents in the US Foreign Policy. Her remarks were followed by long discussions with students and professors, and by a small reception.

Ambassador McCaw remarks offered the IMC Export Fellows a unique opportunity to gain insights into the trans-Atlantic ties and its recent economic and political dynamics, legacy of the Marshall fund (inc exchange programs), the US standpoints on Middle East (two state solution for the Palestine-Israeli conflict), Balkans (including the Kosovo issue), Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, Africa (incl. Darfur), energy dependency and climate protection/global warming. Answering the students’ questions, H.E. McCaw shared the US policy perspectives on issues like: recent US–EU summit in the States, forthcoming G-8 summit in Germany, Latin America, Russia, China and Africa as well as R&D, innovative technologies, mobility and education (knowledge-based economy).

An extraordinarily pleasant personality and esteemed diplomat, Ambassador McCaw built up a reputable career in private business sector, mostly investments and banking sector. Ms. McCaw was also a member of Stanford University’s Board of Trustees, and served as Co-Chair of Stanford’s 1 billion campaign for the US Undergraduate education, being personally very active in international student outreach. Before presenting her diplomatic credentials and taking up the Ambassadorial duty in Austria in January 2006, Ms. McCaw served as the Finance Co-Chair for Presidential campaign in Washington State. H.E. holds the high graduate and post-graduate degrees in Economics from the prestigious Stanford and Harvard universities.

Summing up after this content-intensive and extremely valuable event with Mr. Heinz Boyer, IMC CIO, Mr. Ernst Fietz, the EXP Program Director, and Mr. Anis H. Bajrektarevic, EXP Chair and principal host of the event, Ambassador McCaw stated that she has been very impressed by our faculty’s continued interest in the US/trans-Atlantic affairs. The Ambassador also complimented the commitment and knowledge of our students as demonstrated in the questions and discussion with her as well as with our lasting cooperation with her and embassy. She made a firm promise to return to our university soon again.

Text: Mr. Bajrektarevic