Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield shared tips on conducting conservations on current geopolitical events and addressed the rapid change in U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration with a packed Shannon Hall audience Tuesday night.
The event saw many disruptions from protesters who criticized her actions vetoing ceasefire resolutions and defending Israel in the United Nations under the Biden administration.The event, moderated by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s La Follette School of Public Affairs Director Susan Webb Yackee, started with Thomas-Greenfield reflecting on her time as a master’s student at UW-Madison.
When reflecting on her career as a diplomat, she said she often worked in areas that were considered “hardship posts.”
“I liked to serve in countries where you had to boil your water and bleach your vegetables in order to eat and drink,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “That prepared me for my career, being able to deal with adversity.”
The Trump administration has been marked with a whirlwind of foreign policy reversals deviating from decades of established U.S. policy. Thomas-Greenfield said the change in position “put a very bad taste in the mouths of our allies who really look to the U.S. for leadership.”
She pointed to the dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development as an example of a loss of U.S. soft power.
“[People] depended on us to defend the defenseless, and now that’s gone,” she said.
Thomas-Greenfield also addressed the structure of the UN, saying “the people sitting around the table, both at the UN and, particularly, at the Security Council, is not representative of the world” and calling for a “Security Council that represents the realities of the world.”
Protesters calling for ceasefire in Gaza interrupt event
Within the first few minutes, three individuals stood up — one with a megaphone — and shouted that Thomas-Greenfield held responsibility for Israel’s war in Gaza. Audience members booed as protesters held up banners reading “Ceasefire Now” and continued to talk through the megaphone.
“I really appreciated this young man expressing his views, what I didn’t appreciate is that he didn’t want me to express my views,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
Thomas-Greenfield frequently vetoed UN Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza — often the lone veto in opposition.
When asked by Yackee about these votes, Thomas Greenfield said “what people don’t know is how much negotiation took place every single day. People, [like] these young men, focused on the vetoes. They did not focus on the number of resolutions where we didn’t veto and those resolutions passed.”
Yackee told the protestors that police had been called and they would be removed if they didn’t leave. The police later escorted individuals out.
Just outside Shannon Hall, multiple UW-Madison and Madison Police Department officers were present as protesters pounded on the doors. Heavy security was present for the remainder of the event.
La Follette School director says ambassadors voice is necessary in current moment
Yackee told The Daily Cardinal Thomas-Greenfield’s experience made her a “voice we need to hear right now.”.
“It’s a voice that’s sat at tables across from adversaries and has found ways to humanize them, but also found ways to live our values,” Yackee said. “I think that’s an important message.”
Of the protests, Yackee said “it’s important that students have a voice,” but “it’s also really important that when we have somebody of the ambassador's experience, that we listen to her too, and we try to find ways to question her.
“I think I asked some tough questions,” she said.
Yackee told the Cardinal the school will continue to host similar events in the future.
Drew Wesson is a staff writer and photographer for The Daily Cardinal. He has written stories covering public safety, protests, political events and more. You can follow him on Twitter @drewwesson1.
