The National Security Roundtable

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Distinguished diplomat and a lawyer, Ambassador John R. Bolton spent many years in public service. As a veteran of three Republican administrations and a nominee for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, he served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 1, 2005 to December 9, 2006, as well as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security from June 2001 to May 2005; Asst. Secretary for International Organization Affairs at the Dept. of State, 1989-1993; Asst. Attorney General at the Dept. of Justice, 1985-1989; Asst. Administrator for Program and Policy Coordination at the U.S. Agency for International Development, 1982-1983; and General Counsel at the U.S. Agency for International Development, 1981-1982.

Prior to entering public service, Ambassador Bolton worked as a lawyer and partner at the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington DC. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude from Yale College (1970), and received his J.D. from Yale Law School (1974), where he was editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Ambassador Bolton currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His new book - Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad - takes readers behind the scenes at the U.N. and the U.S. State Department and reveals why his efforts to defend American interests and reform the U.N. resulted in controversy. Among other fascinating insights, Bolton exposes the operational inadequacies that hinder the U.N.'s effectiveness in international diplomacy and its bias against Israel and the United States, while at home, he criticizes the pernicious bureaucratic inertia in the U.S. State Department that can undermine presidential policy.