2009 Awards Luncheon
US State Department
December 3, 2009
The American Academy of Diplomacy and William J. Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, hosted its twentieth annual awards luncheon on Thursday, December 3, 2009 in the Benjamin Franklin Room of the U.S. Department of State. The Academy highlighted the outreach effort it undertook in 2009 to promote the findings of its ground-breaking "Foreign Affairs Budget of the Future" report within Congress, the administration, and key districts across the U.S. The report finds that the State Department, USAID, and related organizations lack the tools to meet today's complex diplomatic challenges. It provides a budget blueprint for the incoming administration to properly fund and staff the State Department. It calls for 50% more diplomats to rebuild America's foreign affairs capability.
This year we had the pleasure of presenting the Annenberg Award for Excellence in Diplomacy to Ambassador William Lacy Swing, who gave the keynote address and spoke about his experience in Africa and the necessity of diplomacy in public service.
The Academy also presented the Douglas Dillon Award for a book of distinction on the practice of American diplomacy to Ambassador Howard B. Schaffer for his book, The Limits of Influence: America’s Role in Kashmir.
Ambassador Robert Hunter presented the Arthur Ross Award for Distinguished Reporting & Analysis of Foreign Affairs to Helen Thomas, Hearst News Service and Anthony Shadid of The Washington Post. Mr. Shadid was not able to join us and Ambassador Ronald Neumann accepted the award on his behalf.
Every year, the Academy of Diplomacy grants these prestigious awards to recognize major contributions to the field of diplomacy, and to stimulate further interest in and public understanding of the need for excellence in the practice of American diplomacy.
> Read the press release
> View photos taken at the luncheon
> Read Ambassador William Lacy Swing’s remarks