Kellie A. Meiman, Managing Director, McLarty Associates
Biography provided by participant
For nearly a decade, Kellie Meiman has led the Brazil/Southern Cone and trade practices of McLarty Associates, a strategic advisory firm led by Thomas "Mack" McLarty, former Chief of Staff to President Clinton. She previously worked at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as Director for Brazil and the Southern Cone, and at the Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer. An Economic Officer in the Foreign Service, Ms. Meiman served in Porto Alegre, São Paulo and Recife, Brazil, and in Bogotá, Colombia. She has lived and studied in Japan and Central America and speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
The Nobel committee's decision does raise expectations in an unhelpful way. I suspect that the President himself, while honored by the award, would have preferred a different outcome last week. At the same time, the Nobel award starkly highlights the global realization that the world is a much more dangerous place when the United States of America ceases to take a multilateral approach as a first -- not the only, merely the first -- public policy option. Our departure from that tradition over the past seven years has weakened US stature and our ability to positively impact outcomes internationally. This Nobel… Read more
The world has undoubtedly changed irrevocably with the global economic crisis. Never again will the assumption that “markets know best” be accepted in the absence of justification. This dynamic challenges the United States to quickly restructure its own regulatory regimes both to avoid a future replay of the past year, as well as to regain global credibility of the market-based model. It also means that the United States will have to work harder to build coalitions to drive forward global economic policies that we believe will deliver growth. We see this need reflected in discussions at the G-20, and will… Read more
President Obama has taken a pragmatic and necessary step toward a Cuba policy designed to effect real change on the island. Over 40 years of a US trade embargo has not moved the Cuban regime any closer to democracy or toward improving human rights. At the same time, the domestic political environment in the United States does not allow for a sweeping and immediate elimination of the embargo. By focusing first on improving the lot of families divided by years of strained US/Cuba ties, as well as on the provision of enhanced humanitarian offerings and telecommunication services, President Obama is… Read more
Biography provided by participant
