Former U.S. ambassador to discuss Syrian issues

Robert Ford, who served as U.S. ambassador to Syria from 2010 to 2014, will discuss issues facing Syria in a speech sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

Ford’s speech, titled “Battle for Identity and Control: ISIS in the Middle East,” will be Feb. 18 at the University Club and Alumni Center at the University of Louisville, 200 E. Brandeis Ave.

Registration and networking are scheduled 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m., with the program to follow and dinner at 7:15 p.m.

Dinner Tickets are $30 through Thursday, and $40 afterward. Tickets must be purchased by noon Feb. 13. Dinner tickets cannot be purchased separately from the presentation.

Ford recently retired from the foreign service, after serving as U.S. ambassador to Syria for four years. He previously was ambassador to Algeria. Shortly after the outbreak of Syria’s civil war, Ford traveled to the city of Hama in a show of solidarity with Syrians protesting the rule of Bashar Al Assad.

In a release announcing Ford’s speech, the council said that Ford will offer “an insider’s grasp on the situation that’s unfolding today.”

 

 

THE COURIER JOURNAL