On August 6 at 9 am PT, dial in for a discussion on the proposed closure of U.S. embassies around the world as part of a broader effort by the government to reduce State Department spending. This conversation will address the potential effects on U.S. national security, foreign policy priorities, and the country’s ability to influence international affairs. Members will hear from Darrell Blocker, a Former American Intelligence Officer and Founder of DMB Consulting Services, and Michelle D. Gavin, Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

Why it’s important:

• According to an internal State Department memo published in April, the Trump Administration is considering closing 10 embassies and 17 consulates, with reductions in staff capacity outlined for several others. 
• Closures would impact 6 embassies in Africa, including the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Gambia, Lesotho, the Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan. 3 consulates would also be closed in Cameroon, Douala, and Durban. 
• This plan poses a national security risk for the United States, as other countries have an opportunity to increase their presence on the African continent, and elsewhere, threatening the U.S.’s current diplomatic ties. 

Please feel free to send questions in advance to events@pacificcouncil.org.

To register for this webinar, visit the Zoom Registration Page.

Guest Speaker

 

Darrell M. Blocker is a board director, senior corporate director, and a former member of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations Leadership Team.  He founded his firm in 2018 and currently serves as an Independent Board Director for Rendeavour, Africa's largest urban land developer, focusing on building new cities across Sub-Saharan Africa; as an Advisor to the Black Professionals in International Affairs’ Leadership Council, a nonprofit with mission to increase involvement of African-Americans and African descent in international affairs; as Board Member and Advisor to Hunter Baron, a financial services business development firm; and as a Nonresident Fellow at the University of Georgia’s Center for International Trade and Security.  He is a 2025 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for “exemplary commitment to national security, global stability, mentorship, humanitarian work, and advocacy for diversity in national security.”

Guest Speaker

 

Michelle D. Gavin is the Ralph Bunche senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). She has over twenty years of experience in international affairs in government and non-profit roles. She was formerly the managing director of The Africa Center, a multidisciplinary institution dedicated to increasing understanding of contemporary Africa. From 2011 to 2014 she was the U.S. ambassador to Botswana and served concurrently as the U.S. representative to the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

During Ambassador Gavin’s tenure, the United States and Botswana launched the most ambitious HIV prevention study in the world; Botswana hosted Southern Accord, the 1,400-strong joint SADC-U.S. military exercise; and the U.S. embassy helped to found Botswana’s first American Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that, she was a special assistant to President Obama and the senior director for Africa at the National Security Council, where she helped to originate the Young African Leaders Initiative and led major policy reviews of Sudan and Somalia. 

Before joining the Obama administration, Gavin was an international affairs fellow and adjunct fellow for Africa at CFR. Earlier in her career she worked in the U.S. Senate, where she was the staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s subcommittee on African affairs, director of international policy issues for Senator Russ Feingold, and legislative director for Senator Ken Salazar. 

Gavin received an MPhil in international relations from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes scholar, and earned her BA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, where she was a Truman scholar. She serves on the board of directors of Points of Light and the Africa-America Institute.

 

To register for this webinar, visit the Zoom Registration Page.