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Flaten discusses diplomatic career

By Cate Grochala '06
December 9, 2005

Robert Flaten, former U.S. ambassador to Rwanda, spoke about the vocation of diplomacy at St. Olaf on Thursday, Dec. 8 in Buntrock Commons. His presentation was the final part of the "Politics as Vocation" lecture series sponsored by the Lilly Vocation Grant, the Political Action Committee and Pi Sigma Alpha.

Flaten, who graduated from St. Olaf in 1956, served in the U.S. Foreign Service for 32 years and has long been considered a representative of the best in American diplomacy. He held State Department positions in the Middle East and South Asia in such countries as Israel and Pakistan.

Flaten also served as director of the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh Affairs in Washington, D.C., where he organized a plan for continued assistance to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Subsequently, he became part of the group that negotiated the removal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

From December 1990 to November 1993 Flaten served as ambassador to Rwanda, where he worked more than two years to mediate a peace settlement between Hutu and Tutsi leaders, a settlement that fell apart only a few weeks after he left Rwanda. Since retiring from international service in 1994, Flaten has served as Ambassador-in-Residence at St. Olaf College and as chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum Executive Committee.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.