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POSITIVE RSVP ONLINE ONLY:
http://belfercenter.hks.harvard.edu/events/lute.html
The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs will host a Director's Lunch with Douglas E. Lute, Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in the Belfer Center Library (L369).
Ambassador Lute laid out the challenges ahead for NATO and Afghanistan, during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
“Serious challenges lie ahead for NATO. The key operational challenge is Afghanistan, where NATO leads a coalition of 50 nations. We are on a path to pass full responsibility to Afghan forces by the end of 2014, a path set by NATO and the Afghans at the Lisbon Summit in late 2010 and refined last year at the Chicago Summit. Several weeks ago the Afghans reached a strategic milestone along that path as they assumed the lead for security across the entire country, with NATO passing into a support and advisory role. But the military campaign is only one part of a complex equation to stabilize Afghanistan and ensure it is not a safe haven for al-Qaeda. The outcome will not rely solely on NATO. Perhaps most important, Afghan political transition culminates next April in the presidential elections.”
In August 2013, Douglas E. Lute was sworn in as the Ambassador of the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). From 2007 to 2013, Ambassador Lute served at the White House under President Bush and President Obama, first as the Assistant to the President, following as the Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently as the Deputy Assistant to the President focusing on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
In 2010, Ambassador Lute retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant general after 35 years of active duty. Prior to the White House, he served as the Director of Operations on the Joint Staff, overseeing U.S. military operations worldwide. He served multiple tours in NATO commands, including duty in Germany during the Cold War and commanding U.S. forces in Kosovo. He holds degrees from the United States Military Academy and Harvard.
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