Name: Global Trade, the Global Commons, and Geopolitics
Start: 2023-04-12T09:00:00-04:00
End: 2023-04-12T10:00:00-04:00
Location: American University, School of International Service, Atrium

Global Trade, the Global Commons, and Geopolitics

School of International Service

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), will speak with AU President Sylvia M. Burwell.

American University, School of International Service, Atrium

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), will join AU President Sylvia M. Burwell for a wide-ranging discussion of the global economic agenda and the future of the WTO. They’ll touch on multiple challenges confronting global governance, including public health emergencies, climate change, and sovereign debt crises in low-income countries. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and President Burwell will also discuss sanctions against Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine—and its impacts on the global trading system. Their conversation takes place as the world's senior officials gather in Washington, DC, for the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Bios:Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has served as Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since March 2021. She was formerly chair of the board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and served as African Union Special Envoy to mobilize international financial support for the fight against COVID-19; she also served as WHO Special Envoy for Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala served as Nigeria's finance minister from 2003 to 2006 and from 2011 to 2015. She also served briefly as acting foreign minister in 2006, the first woman to hold both positions. Previously, she had a 25-year career at the World Bank as a development economist, rising to the No. 2 position of managing director, of operations, where she oversaw the Bank's $81 billion portfolio in Africa, South Asia, Europe, and Central Asia. In 2010, she was chair of the Bank's successful drive to raise $49.3 billion in grants and low-interest credit for the poorest countries in the world. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has been listed as one of the world's most influential leaders by Time (2021), one of the 25 most influential women by the Financial Times (2021), and among the 100 most inspiring people in the world delivering for girls and women (Women Deliver, 2011). She graduated magna cum laude with an AB in Economics from Harvard University in 1976 and earned a PhD in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981. She has received honorary degrees from 15 universities worldwide, including American University in 2022. Sylvia M. Burwell joined American University on June 1, 2017; she is American University's 15th president and the first woman to serve as president. Burwell has held two cabinet positions in the United States government. She served as the 22nd secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services from 2014 to 2017. During her tenure, she managed a trillion-dollar department that includes the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, and the Medicaid and Medicare programs; oversaw the successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act; and led the department’s responses to the Ebola and Zika outbreaks. Before that, she served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, working with Congress to negotiate a two-year budget deal following the 2013 government shutdown. Her additional government experience includes roles as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, deputy chief of staff to the president, chief of staff to the secretary of the Treasury, and special assistant to the director of the National Economic Council. Burwell served 11 years at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, including roles as the chief operating officer and president of the Global Development Program. She then served as president of the Walmart Foundation and ran its global Women’s Economic Empowerment efforts. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.This event is sponsored by SIS and the International Economic Relations program.

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Global Trade, the Global Commons, and Geopolitics

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