"Do We Still Need Embassies in 2021?"

Drawing on his experience as a diplomat from 1982 through 2018, retired ambassador Robert Jackson will offer his thoughts on the relevance of embassies in the Information Age.  He will focus on his last assignment as U.S. Ambassador to Ghana to illustrate an embassy's many activities and the ways in which they assist America and Americans.

A career diplomat who focused on Africa, Robert P. Jackson served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana from 2016 until 2018. He was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs for the two preceding years and was Ambassador to the Republic of Cameroon from 2010 until 2013. Jackson’s previous overseas assignments include Morocco, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Portugal, Zimbabwe, Burundi, and Canada. In Washington, he led the Office for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy at the Department of State and served as Coordinator of the Entry-Level Officer Training Program (A-100). Jackson was also Country Officer for Zimbabwe, Botswana, and, earlier, Nigeria. A Tennessean, Jackson taught English in France and Switzerland before joining the Foreign Service.