Mongolia and the United States provides a pioneering firsthand look at the remarkable growth in ties between two countries separated by vast distances that yet share a growing list of interests and values.

While maintaining positive ties with its two powerful neighbors, China and Russia, Mongolia has sought “third neighbors” to help provide balance. For its part, the United States responded by supporting Mongolia as an emerging democracy while strengthening development and commercial relations. People-to-people ties have also expanded, as has a security partnership that supports Mongolia’s emergence as a provider of military peacekeepers in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Darfur, and elsewhere. A magnet for foreign investment, Mongolia is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Against this backdrop, partnerships developed between the United States and Mongolia since 1987 reflect the variety of ways in which diplomatic engagement can help set the stage for more dramatic and far-reaching changes.

Jonathan S. Addleton served as a U.S. Foreign Service officer in Mongolia twice, first as USAID mission director (2001–04) and then as ambassador (2009–12). Other assignments include development counselor at the US Mission to the European Union in Brussels; USAID mission director in Pakistan and Cambodia; and USAID program officer in Jordan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, and Yemen. He has written a number of articles on Asia as well as two previous books, Undermining the Center (Oxford University Press, 1992) and Some Far and Distant Place (University of Georgia Press, 1997). In 2012, he was awarded the Polar Star, Mongolia’s highest civilian honor for foreign citizens, for his role in strengthening ties between the United States and Mongolia.

This program takes place at AFSA HQ, 2101 E Street NW, at 2:00 p.m. on October 21. Please send RSVPs to events@afsa.org.