FCDO Association
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November 14 2023
Panel: 3rd Transatlantic Panel Discussion: Can the West win over the rest?
Against the backdrop of a fragmenting world, what should the western liberal democracies do in the face of increasingly tough competition to retain – and in some cases recover – influence in the global south versus China and Russia?
There will be three distinguished panellists:
From Canada:
Guillermo E. Rishchynski
Guillermo E. Rishchynski was Regional Marketing Manager, Latin America, for Interimco International before joining the Department of External Affairs and International Trade in 1983 as an Assistant Trade Commissioner. He served abroad in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Amman, Melbourne, Jakarta and Chicago and, from 1999 to 2002, was Ambassador to Colombia.
In Ottawa, he served the department as Deputy Director, Latin America and Caribbean Trade Division, and Director, Team Canada Task Force and Inspector-General. He joined the Canadian International Development Agency in 2003, serving as Vice-President of the Americas Branch until his appointment as Ambassador to Brazil in 2005. In 2007, he was appointed Ambassador to Mexico and in 2011 became Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
Guillermo Rishchynski retired from the Government of Canada on September 1, 2019. Mr Rishchynski was appointed Executive Director for Canada at the Inter-American Development Bank in January 2016.
From the United Kingdom:
Sir Myles Wickstead
Professor Sir Myles Wickstead has a long history of working in international development and diplomacy, particularly linked to Africa. He has run British Government international development programmes in East Africa; was British Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union; and represented the UK on the Board of the World Bank. He was Head of Secretariat to the Commission for Africa chaired by Tony Blair in 2004/5.
Having left Government service in 2005 he has chaired and been on the Boards of a number of INGOs, and is a Visiting Professor (International Relations) at King's College London and the University of Exeter. He has written extensively on Africa and development; his book Aid and Development: A Brief Introduction was published by Oxford University Press in 2015.
From the United States:
Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne
Earl Anthony Wayne – ‘Tony’ to his colleagues in the Foreign Service – served as the US ambassador to Argentina and Mexico, deputy ambassador to Afghanistan, and Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs. A former national security correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor, he now focuses on Latin America, teaching classes at American University in Washington and co-chairing the board of the Wilson Centre’s Mexico Institute.
Moderator:
Alex Bugailiskis
Alexandra retired from Global Affairs Canada in 2022 after a 39-year career that included postings to Ghana and Guatemala, and four Head of Mission appointments: Syria, Cuba, Poland and Italy. In Canada, she served as the Assistant Deputy Minister for Latin America and as ADM for Europe, the Middle East and the Arctic. She was the Chief Negotiator for the Canada-EU Strategic Partnership Agreement signed in 2016.
Alexandra has received awards and citations for her contributions to the Namibian independence process; the 2010 Haitian earthquake recovery effort; the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec; and the Syrian resettlement process in Canada. In 2023 she was appointed as Chair of the International Advisory Committee for the UNU Institute on Water, Environment and Health located in her hometown Hamilton.
The event was organized by The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office Association, The Canadian Ambassadors Alumni Association, and DACOR: an association of foreign affairs professionals.
