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FORUM l Art of Diplomacy One of the highest ranking Kennedy School alumni serving in the government at the time of his visit in March, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick MPP 1981 told a Forum audience that successful international diplomacy is a combination of policy and political savvy. In July, Zoellick stepped down to enter the private sector.

FORUM l Africa’s Progress Despite misconceptions that Africa
is filled with “death, disease, and dictatorships,” Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, said that many African countries are improving. Speaking at the annual Black Policy Conference, she said, “Africans are implementing better governance across the continent. They are creating the conditions for peace and prosperity, and that is really the picture.”

FORUM l Lincoln’s Men In a review of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book on Abraham Lincoln, The New York Times wondered if anything new could be said of the president. It took a decade of reading through memoirs and letters to do it, but, as Kearns Goodwin IOP 1991 pointed out at an April Forum event (and The Times agreed), the answer is yes. Her approach was to focus not just on Lincoln, but also on the men in his cabinet. “In many ways,” she said, “he was married to them more than to Mary.”