Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Ambassador James B. Cunningham to Speak on ‘Afghanistan, Violent Islamic Extremism and America’

Thursday, September 8, 2016, By News Staff
Share
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Ambassador James Cunningham ’74

James Cunningham ’74

James B. Cunningham ’74, former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Israel and the UN, will discuss “Afghanistan, Violent Islamic Extremism and America” at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Cunningham, currently a senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center, will discuss challenges posed in the greater Middle East to the United States and international community. He will review mistakes made since 9/11 and argue that—particularly in today’s political atmosphere—America needs serious discussions that lead to a long-term, sustainable strategy in the region.

The event, part of the University’s Orange Central events, will take place on Friday, Sept. 16, at 2:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public. No R.S.V.P. is required, but please arrive early for the best seating.

The event will also be available via live stream at http://maxwell.syr.edu/cunningham.

Ambassador Cunningham joined the Atlantic Council in May 2015 as a senior fellow in the South Asia Center and the Khalilzad Chair, and in May 2016 became a non-resident senior fellow. He has served as ambassador and deputy ambassador to Afghanistan, ambassador to Israel, consul general for Hong Kong and Macau, and ambassador and deputy permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, and served as acting permanent representative to the United Nations for the first nine months of 2001, including on 9/11.

After early tours in Stockholm, Washington, Rom, and the U.S. Mission to NATO, Cunningham was selected by NATO Secretary General Manfred Woerner as his chief of staff, serving as an advisor to the secretary general on all NATO issues in the context of nuclear disarmament in Europe, the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, and the impending dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union.

After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, Cunningham became deputy political counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. He served as the deputy director, then as director of the State Department Office of European Security and Political Affairs. He was deputy chief of mission at the Embassy in Rome from 1996 to 1999.

Ambassador Cunningham graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University in 1974 with bachelor’s degrees in political science and psychology. He is the recipient of multiple awards from the State Department and was awarded the National Performance Review’s Hammer Award for Innovation in Management and the President’s Meritorious Service Award. He has received prestigious awards from the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the secretary of defense and the Afghan president. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Asia Society, he retired from government service in December 2014 with the rank of career minister.

Ambassador Cunningham will be a 2016 recipient of the George Arents Award, Syracuse University’s highest alumni honor presented annually to alumni who have made outstanding contributions in their fields. The award will be presented at the Arents Awards dinner on Friday, Sept. 16. For more information visit http://orangecentral.syr.edu/awards/arents-award/index.html.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Syracuse Stage Hosts Inaugural Julie Lutz New Play Festival
    Wednesday, May 28, 2025, By News Staff
  • Timur Hammond’s ‘Placing Islam’ Receives Journal’s Honorable Mention
    Tuesday, May 27, 2025, By News Staff
  • Expert Available to Discuss DOD Acceptance of Qatari Jet
    Thursday, May 22, 2025, By Vanessa Marquette
  • Syracuse University 2025-26 Budget to Include Significant Expansion of Student Financial Aid
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff
  • Light Work Opens New Exhibitions
    Wednesday, May 21, 2025, By News Staff

More In Media, Law & Policy

Memorial Fund Honors Remarkable Journalism Career, Supports Students Involved With IDJC

Maxwell School alumna Denise Kalette ’68 got her first byline at age 12, under a poem titled “The Poor Taxpayer” that she submitted to her local newspaper. In a few paragraphs of playful prose, she drew attention to an issue…

New Maymester Program Allows Student-Athletes to Develop ‘Democracy Playbook’

Fourteen student-athletes will experience Washington, D.C., next week as part of a new Maymester program hosted by the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship (IDJC). The one-week program, Democracy Playbook: DC Media and Civics Immersion for Student-Athletes, will…

Advance Local, Newhouse School Launch Investigative Reporting Fellowship Program

A new collaboration with Advance Local will provide Newhouse School journalism students opportunities to write and report on investigative projects with local impact for newsrooms across the country. The David Newhouse Investigative Reporting Fellowship program, which launched this year in…

Lauren Woodard Honored for Forthcoming Book on Migration Along Russia-China Border

Lauren Woodard, assistant professor of anthropology, has received the Spring 2025 Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) First Book Subvention for her upcoming book on Russia’s migration policies on the Russia-China border. Woodard’s book is titled “Ambiguous…

Maxwell School Proudly Ranks No. 1 for Public Affairs in 2025

The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs has earned the No. 1 overall spot in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Public Affairs Schools rankings. This year’s top ranking follows Maxwell’s yearlong celebration of its founding 100…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.