Many of the 21st century’s transnational challenges are being addressed in a diverse group of international bodies, such as the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council. U.S. engagement with the multilateral system has been reinvigorated by the Obama Administration – from improving the effectiveness of UN Security Council peace operations and sanctions regimes to strengthening multilateral protections for human rights and security. Dr. Esther Brimmer discusses the Obama administration’s position towards the multilateral arena – and America’s role within it - as part of the Chicago and the World Forum Series.

Esther Brimmer is the assistant secretary of state for international organizations at the U.S. Department of State. In her role, she leads the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, which strives to advance U.S. interests through international organizations in areas including human rights, peacekeeping, food security, humanitarian relief, and climate change. Prior to her appointment, she was deputy director and director of research at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Her previous government service included two years in the State Department’s Office of Policy Planning, where she worked on European Union, Western Europe, UN, and multilateral security issues. Brimmer was also a member of the United States delegation to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in spring 2000. She received her B.A. from Pomona College, and her D.Phil. and master’s degrees from the University of Oxford.

Generous support for the Chicago and the World Forum series each year is provided by the McCormick Foundation.

Recorded Tuesday, March 02, 2010 at InterContinental Hotel.