A Panel Discussion hosted by Queen’s University Belfast and the UCL Centre on US Politics, with support from the US Department of State, as part of the series: DECISION 2020: Interpreting the US Elections.

Introduction: Dr Julie Norman (UCL)

Chair: Professor Richard English (Queen’s University Belfast)

Panel: Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau (US Consul General in Belfast), Rory Montgomery (Honorary Professor, Queen’s University Belfast), Jonathan Powell (Honorary Professor, Queen’s University Belfast)

How should we interpret the 2020 US Presidential Election and its legacies? What effect will it have on US influence and engagement in the wider world? What are the implications for Northern Ireland, for Ireland, for the UK, for Europe? This Panel Discussion is open to all, and is hosted at Queen’s University by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.

Panellists:

Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau took up her post as US Consul General in Belfast in 2018, having previously served as US Consul General in Pakistan and, before that, having worked for the State Department in Washington DC. Ms Kennedy Trudeau has also served as Counsellor for Public Affairs at the US Mission to NATO, Brussels, and at the US Mission to South Africa in Pretoria.

Rory Montgomery is an Honorary Professor in the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University Belfast. In his career as an Irish diplomat, he served as Political Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Representative to the European Union, and Ambassador to France. During 2016-2019 he worked in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with responsibility for European issues, including Brexit. Between 1993 and 2001 he worked on Northern Ireland, including his role as part of the team which negotiated the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Jonathan Powell is CEO of Inter Mediate, the charity which he founded in 2011 to work on conflict resolution around the world. His work has involved negotiations with ETA in the Basque Country, and negotiations in Colombia with the FARC. Between 1995 and 2007 Jonathan Powell was Chief of Staff to Tony Blair, and during 1997-2007 he was Chief British Negotiator on Northern Ireland. He is an Honorary Professor at the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at QUB. His books include Great Hatred, Little Room: Making Peace in Northern Ireland and Talking to Terrorists, How to End Armed Conflict.