The Anthony J. Drexel Biddle Jr.
Lecture in International Studies
The Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. Lecture in International Studies was established by Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans and James H. Semans and their family to honor Mrs. Semans’ father, Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr., who had a distinguished career as a diplomat in the service of the United States and was an original signer of The Duke Endowment. The lecture symbolizes Duke University’s continuing commitment to promoting international understanding.
ANNOUNCING:
The 2024 Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. Lecture in International Studies
“A New Foreign Policy Paradigm for the Sustainable Future of People and the Planet“
Delivered by
The Honorable Monica Medina
FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE
FOR OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS
&
ARNHOLD DISTINGUISHED FELLOW WITH
CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL
Thursday, September 5th 2024 5:00 PM ET
Holsti-Anderson Assembly Room, Rubenstein Library (rm 153)
411 Chapel Dr, Durham, NC 27705
Parking is available at the Bryan Center Parking Lot (125 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27705)
A New Foreign Policy Paradigm for the Sustainable Future of People and the Planet
The world is facing numerous challenges brought on by industrialization. The combination of climate change, pollution, and rapid biodiversity loss has been described as a triple planetary crisis. We see the effects across the entire globe – from the tops of the highest mountains to the bottom of the deepest ocean, from the equator to the poles, and even in space. They are having dramatic impacts on daily lives everywhere. Extreme weather events caused by climate change – increasingly intense and severe droughts, water scarcity, wildfires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms – are changing the security landscape, triggering mass migrations, and increasing tensions over food, water, and land. Pollution causes more than seven million premature deaths a year globally. Additionally, nature and biodiversity loss threaten to disrupt the vital ecosystem services that provide all our basic needs, including food systems, drinkable water, clean air, fertile lands, and healthy oceans.
These intertwined environmental challenges have traditionally been considered local issues to be addressed through local governance. But now we know that the only way to tackle them fully is through global cooperation. Given the tensions and conflict in the world, it is surprising and propitious that so many global environmental agreements are being forged today. From the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, to the Paris Climate Accord, to the Global Biodiversity Framework, to the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement for the high seas, we see signs of global cooperation that show promise and, if successful, will be unprecedented in history.
What would improve the chances of success for these global agreements and initiatives? And how will the United States – the “indispensable nation” – play a role? How will the United States and the world adapt foreign policy and cooperation to meet this moment? This year’s lecture and discussion will consider these questions.
About the Speaker:
The Honorable Monica Medina is an Arnhold Distinguished Fellow at Conservation International. She most recently served as the first woman President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society. From 2021-2023, she was the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and the first U.S. Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources at the U.S. State Department. She is a former small business owner having founded Our Daily Planet, an environmental e-mail newsletter. From 2015-2021, Medina was also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Medina has had a long career in environmental law, policy, philanthropy, media, and advocacy, including at the Walton Family Foundation and the National Geographic Society. In addition, from 2012-2013, Ms. Medina served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, and from 2009-2012 as the Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Ms. Medina is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She attended Georgetown University on an Army R.O.T.C. scholarship and began her legal career on active duty in the Honor’s Program of the Army General Counsel’s office. For her service in the Army, Ms. Medina was awarded an Army Commendation Medal in 1989, and a Meritorious Service Medal in 1990. In 2013, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta awarded Ms. Medina the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, its highest civilian honor.
This event is in alignment with the Duke Climate Commitment
A special thanks to Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy; the Program in American Grand Strategy; the Office of Global Affairs; the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, and the Ocean Diplomacy Working Group for promoting the 2024 Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. Lecture in International Studies.
For questions, please contact sspp-rdp@duke.edu
About Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle, Jr.
Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle had a varied career—including work in shipping, mining and the sporting world—but he found his greatest calling as a diplomat. Born in Philadelphia, he attended the Saint Paul’s School in New Hampshire and later, Temple University. Serving in the US Army during World War I, Biddle rose in rank from Private to Captain. After the war, he was a serious sportsman, earning the title of “Court Tennis” champion of France. Like his father, a jiu jitsu expert in the US Marines and the trainer of champion boxer Gene Tunney, he was a good prizefighter.
Biddle became involved in politics in the early 1930s, and was named by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to his first diplomatic posting as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Norway in 1934. An appointment as Ambassador to Poland followed in 1937, as World War II loomed over Europe. After German forces invaded Poland in 1939, Biddle served as Deputy Ambassador to France. In 1941 Biddle was named US Ambassador to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Yugoslavia, whose governments were in exile in London. At the time, this extraordinary posting was termed the biggest and, in some ways, the most important diplomatic mission ever handled by a single envoy.
Biddle retired from the diplomatic corps in 1944 to return to active duty in the US Army as a Lieutenant Colonel, rising to the rank of Brigadier General in 1951. During those years, he worked closely with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Deputy Chief of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) and as a representative to US European Command (EUCOM) and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), NATO’s central military command.
The 1950s found Biddle serving as Adjutant General of the State of Pennsylvania, on numerous Pennsylvania state boards and commissions and as a trustee at Temple University. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy chose Biddle for his final diplomatic position, that of Ambassador to Spain, where he served until shortly before his death.
Previous Speakers
April 2022
Lise Grande (President and CEO of the United States Institute of Peace)
“Protecting Civilians in the Age of Instability”
April 2021
The Honorable Nicholas Burns (former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and Greece and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, 2005-2008)
” A Time for Diplomacy”
Read the Duke Today articles about the 2021 Biddle Lecture and the 2022 Biddle Lecture.
March 2018
The Honorable Brian A. Nichols (former US Ambassador to Peru)
“For Reasons Which Are Not Immediately Clear: Foreign Policy in a Time of Uncertainty”
April 2016
The Honorable William J. Burns (President, Carnegie Endowment for Peace; former US Ambassador to Russia & Jordan)
“American Leadership in a Changing International Landscape”
April 2013
The Honorable Donna Hrinak (President, Boeing Brazil; former US Ambassador to Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic)
“Latin America: More Than Just an Asterisk?”
October 2009
Damon Wilson (Duke, BA ’95), Mark Lorey (Duke, BA ’95), & Sonya Wu-Winter (Duke, BA ’95)
“Pathways of International Service – Experiences and Reflections from Three Duke Alums”
November 2006
Diana Villiers Negroponte (US Institute of Peace)
“Behind the Foreign Policy Push for Liberal Democracy in the Middle East”
November 2004
The Honorable David C. Litt (former US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates)
“Challenges for Diplomacy in the Age of Terrorism: A Personal View”
April 2003
The Honorable John O’Leary (former US Ambassador to Chile)
“From Old Politics to New Diplomacy: Lesson from Chile on Free Trade in the 21st Century”
February 2001
The Honorable James A. Joseph (former US Ambassador to South Africa)
“Ethics and Diplomacy: What I Learned from Nelson Mandela”
October 2000
The Honorable Philip Lader
November 1998
The Honorable Robert L. Gallucci
April 1997
The Honorable Jack F. Matlock, Jr.
March 1995
The Honorable William H. Luers
November 1992
The Honorable Vernon Anthony Walters
This program is made possible by the Anthony J. Drexel Biddle Lectureship Endowment and by the Mary Trent Jones-Sarah Trent Harris-Rebecca Trent Kirkland Endowment, recognizing Dr. and Mrs. Semans’ daughters who received their education at Duke University.
