Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Associate and author Sarah Chayes will be speak Friday, Feb. 17, as part of the Liebert Lecture Series presented by FGCU’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration. The free lecture begins with a reception at 6 p.m. in Edwards Hall, Room 112, followed by the presentation at 6:30 p.m.
Chayes will speak on “Systemic Corruption and Its Dangers – At Home and Abroad.” She is the author of “Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security” and is an international authority on corruption and its implications.
In May 2016, Chayes participated alongside UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Secretary of State John Kerry and world leaders from more than 40 countries at the first international summit devoted to tackling corruption.
Prior to joining Carnegie, she served as special assistant to the top U.S. military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. She participated in Cabinet-level decision-making on Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Arab Spring, traveling with Mullen frequently to these regions. Mullen tapped Chayes for the job after her work as special advisor to two commanders of the international troops in Afghanistan (ISAF). She contributed her unique knowledge of the Afghan south to the ISAF command.
In 2005, Chayes founded Arghand, a start-up manufacturing cooperative, where men and women working together produce fine skin-care products. The goal was to revive the region’s historic role in exporting fruit and its derivatives, to promote sustainable development, and expand alternatives to the opium economy.
From 1996-2001, Chayes was NPR Paris correspondent. For her work during the Kosovo crisis, she shared the 1999 Foreign Press Club and Sigma Delta Chi awards.
Along with “Thieves of State,” which won the 2016 L.A. Times Book Prize, Chayes is the author of “The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban” (Penguin, 2006).
For more information, call (239) 590-7847, email [email protected]., or visit the Liebert Lecture Series webpage.