Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch: U.S. should stand for the rule of law, generosity of spirit
Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was unknown to most Americans before she testified in the House hearings on the impeachment of President Trump.
The former ambassador to Ukraine retired from the State Department at the end of January and made her first public appearance since she retired on Feb. 12 at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
In her speech, she said that under the Trump administration, "the policy process has been replaced by decisions emanating from the top, with little discussion."
She added, "to be blunt, an amoral, keep-'em-guessing foreign policy that substitutes threats, fear and confusion for trust cannot work over the long haul.”
Yovanovitch said we need to “double down on diplomacy” and keep in mind that America must stand for “the rule of law” and “generosity of spirit.”
“Creating relationships of trust,” she said, “will have more effect in the long term. “
The moderator of the question and answer session at Georgetown was former Ambassador William Burns, now the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
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