The Ambassadors

Series

The Fifth Estate

Where

The Wheeler Centre

When

Tuesday, 19 Mar 2013, 06:15pm - 07:15pm

Event Status

Past event

What is the role of the modern ambassador? How much influence do they really have? While the days of Argo are probably long gone, so too is a life of garden parties, cups of tea and private clubs. In a new era of security threats, changing balances of power and global roaming of every sort, what takes up the time of our foreign envoys – and where are the postings that really matter?

Join the Wheeler Centre’s ambassador-at-large, Sally Warhaft, with guests Amanda Vanstone, former politician and ambassador to Italy, and Professor Michael Wesley, international relations expert, as they discuss the work of high diplomacy, Australia’s strengths and weaknesses, and our most important engagements abroad.

Featuring

Amanda Vanstone

Michael Wesley

Sally Warhaft

Featuring

Amanda Vanstone

Amanda Vanstone is a former senior Australian politician. Amanda was also Australia’s ambassador to Italy from June 2007 to May 2010. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the Howard Government, including Minister for Immigratio... Read more

Michael Wesley

Michael Wesley is professor of national security at the Australian National University. His career has spanned academia, with previous appointments at the University of New South Wales, Griffith University, the University of Hong Kong, Sun Yat-sen University and the University of Sydney. In governme... Read more

Sally Warhaft

Sally Warhaft is a Melbourne broadcaster, anthropologist and writer. She is the host of The Fifth Estate, the Wheeler Centre’s live series focusing on journalism, politics, media, and international relations, and The Leap Year, a Wheeler Centre podcast about Australians’ lives in the fog of ... Read more

@SallyWarhaft