In her soon-to-be-released book, The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age, former U.S. diplomat Elizabeth Shackelford makes policy and politics come alive in an account of her assignment in South Sudan and her struggle to push Washington to condemn atrocities perpetrated by the South Sudanese government—after the United States helped midwife the country into existence in 2011—to little or no avail. In 2017, after exhausting all means of internal dissent, she wrote a pointed resignation letter to her then-boss, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, urging him to reverse institutional decline she was observing at the State Department by showing leadership and commitment to his diplomats and the country. Her book tells the overlooked, though not untold, story of South Sudan’s stunning collapse and Washington’s refusal to recognize its own failures. But The Dissent Channel also poses bigger questions about how diplomats and others in government can speak truth to power in an age when the truth, and those speaking it, can come under attack.

Guest Speaker:
Elizabeth Shackelford, former U.S. diplomat and author of “The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age”

Moderator:
Michael Purcell, Lt.Col USMC (Ret.), Adjunct Faculty, Elliott School of International Affairs

Panelists:
Hamid Lellou, Conflict Analyst on the Middle East and Africa
Jennifer Cooke, Director, Institute for African Studies