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School of Public Policy Hosts Iraq Policy-maker Richard Schmierer

Richard J. Schmierer

As Americans and the international community await the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama in January 2009, many are anxious to see how the United States' policy on Iraq will change from the current administration to the next. In light of these concerns, the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy will host Richard J. Schmierer, deputy assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs at the Department of State, in a discussion from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 18, in room LC159 of the Drescher Graduate Campus.

Schmierer is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of U.S. policy towards Iraq, and will be accompanied by David Staples, public affairs officer for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. They will provide a briefing on our current Iraq policy, with a focus on working with the incoming Obama Administration. "Bringing someone of the stature of deputy assistant secretary Schmierer to Pepperdine is a great honor and will allow students to hear perspectives on foreign policy directly from a practitioner of foreign affairs," says Pauletta Walsh, assistant dean for Advancement and Alumni Affairs at the School of Public Policy. "It's a wonderful opportunity for students to ask the tough questions, and learn from a person who has decades of experience in foreign affairs."

Schmierer began his diplomatic career in 1980. His first tour of foreign service was in the Federal Republic of Germany, where he served in Bonn, Frankfurt, and Hamburg from 1980 through 1984. Following a year of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies in Washington, D.C., Schmierer served a three-year assignment as the public affairs officer at the American Consulate General in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia (1985-88).

In 1988, Schmierer returned to Washington, D.C., and served at the headquarters of the U.S. Information Agency through 1992, first as the head of the Middle East office of the International Visitor Program, and later in the Agency's Office of European Affairs. In 1992, Schmierer returned to Germany, where he served until 1996 as the press attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Bonn. After undertaking additional Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, Schmierer returned to Saudi Arabia in August 1997, where he served as counselor for public affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh until June 2000. From June 2000 through June 2004 he served as minister-counselor for public affairs at the American Embassy in Berlin, Germany. In June 2004, Schmierer transferred to Baghdad, Iraq, where, with the reestablishment of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, he assumed the position of embassy counselor for public affairs, a post he held through June 2005.

He joined the staff of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in August 2005. While at the Institute, he lectured on Iraq and published a book on the topic, entitled Iraq: Policy and Perceptions.

In July 2007, Schmierer assumed the role of director of the Office of Iraq Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. Under a year later, he took on his current role, deputy assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs.

Schmierer has indicated that he hopes the casual format of the event at Pepperdine will allow students, faculty and community members to engage in a discussion on foreign policy, as opposed to listening to a lecture. "The whole value of bringing in these speakers is so that our students are the most informed and prepared for their careers," Walsh says.

The discussion is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the School of Public Policy Web site http://publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu/ or call (310) 506-7490.