Author, Former Ambassador, Deputy Secretary of Treasury, and Special Adviser on Holocaust Issues Stuart Eizenstat joins FPGS's Ambassadors Tony Wayne and Piper Campbell for a conversation about his 2024 book, The Art of Diplomacy: How American Negotiators Reached Historic Agreements That Changed the World. They will discuss the diplomatic skills and strategic approaches employed by American negotiators in securing a range of historically important agreements, from ending the Vietnam War, through the Kyoto Protocols, to the Iranian Nuclear Agreement.

Ambassador Eizenstat's insights from working on the Washington Principles on Nazi-looted art and the US-EU Transatlantic Agenda informed The Art of Diplomacy. In this exclusive discussion, Ambassador Eizenstat will share experiences from his distinguished career, which includes service as U.S. Ambassador to the EU and as a key negotiator on Holocaust restitution. One reviewer of The Art of Diplomacy wrote that the book is "an indispensable volume to understand American foreign policy and provides invaluable insights on the art of negotiation for anyone involved in government or business negotiations."

Ambassador Eizenstat's Bio:

Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat is Senior Counsel in Covington & Burling LLP’s international practice. His work at Covington focuses on resolving international trade problems and business disputes with the U.S. and foreign governments, and international business transactions and regulations on behalf of U.S. companies and others around the world. He was an Adjunct Lecturer at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government (1982-1991), where he taught a course on presidential decision-making. He has been a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution (1981) and the Woodrow Wilson Center (2001).

During a decade and a half of public service in six U.S. administrations, Ambassador Eizenstat has held a number of key senior positions, including Chief White House Domestic Policy Adviser to President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981); U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration (1993-2001).

In the Carter White House, he was major figure in all the domestic legislative achievements of the Carter Administration. He also recommended to President Carter a Presidential Commission on the Holocaust, headed by Elie Wiesel, which led directly to the congressional approval of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

During the Clinton Administration, he had a prominent role in the development of key international initiatives, including the negotiations of the Transatlantic Agenda with the European Union (establishing the framework for the U.S. relationship with the EU); the development of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) among European and US CEOs; the negotiation of agreements with the European Union regarding the Helms-Burton Act and the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act; the negotiation of the Japan Port Agreement with the Japanese government; and the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, where he led the U.S. delegation.

Much of the interest in providing belated justice for victims of the Holocaust and other victims of Nazi tyranny during World War II was the result of his leadership of the Clinton Administration as Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State on Holocaust-Era Issues, while continuing to hold his other Senate-confirmed positions. He successfully negotiated major agreements with the Swiss, Germans, Austrian and French, and other European countries, covering restitution of property, payment for slave and forced laborers, recovery of looted art, bank accounts, and payment of insurance policies. He was the principal negotiator of the 1998 Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art with 44 countries, which continues to be a basis for recovery and compensation for Nazi-looted art. His book on these events, Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II, has been favorably received in publications like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Business Week, and Publisher’s Weekly. It has been translated into German, French, Czech and Hebrew.

In addition, during the Obama administration, he served as Special Adviser on Holocaust-Era

Don't miss this opportunity to hear from a leading figure in global diplomacy and human rights!

Negotiating Historically Important Agreements with Amb. Stuart Eizenstat