The Hostler Institute hosts two lectures per year in collaboration with the President’s Lecture Series.
The Charles W. Hostler Institute on World Affairs has played an important role in sponsoring educational programs and speakers’ forums for more than seven decades. The late Ambassador Charles Hostler was a soldier, scholar, businessman, diplomat, humanitarian and philanthropist who used his international connections to build the institute’s network of global leaders, allowing a wide audience to understand the impact of world affairs.
The Institute prides itself on encouraging robust critical debate, including the airing of highly controversial themes. Its operating motto is AUDIATUR ET ALTERA PARS (Let the Other Side be Heard). The Institute’s speakers are drawn from all areas of global affairs, including international diplomacy, academia, national security, and protest politics.
Charles Hostler was appointed U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain under President George H. W. Bush (1989-1993) and served asthe Honorary Consul General of the Bahrain in the USA since 1993. He was buried with full military honor next to his father (a WWI Army Officer) at the Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C. He is survived by his wife, Chinyeh and 2 step-sons.
New York Times bestselling author and former NPR international correspondent
Eric Weiner
What Would Ben Franklin Do: Our First Diplomat’s Formula for a Troubled World.
U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Rwanda, and Djibouti
W. Stuart Symington
“What have you done with me lately: America’s partnership with Africa”
Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States of America
Oksana Markarova
Ukraine- U.S., A Strategic Partnership
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan
Ryan Crocker
President, American University of Beirut
Dr. Fadlo R. Khuri
President, The OSS Society
Charles Pinck
United States Congresswoman
Susan A. Davis
“Beyond the Beltway: A Perspective on the Value of Global Engagement”
Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United States of America
Adela Raz
“Afghanistan, A View to the Future”
Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Los Angeles
Zhang Ping
“A New Year, A New Vision: China & U.S. Relations”
British Consul General in Los Angeles
Emily Cloke
“UK- A Year of Global Leadership"
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States of America
Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashed Al Kalifa
“Bahrain, An Open Dialogue”
Assistant Secretary, United States State Department, Bureau of Intelligence and Research
Ellen McCarthy
“Intelligence at the Point of Diplomacy: Ensuring all sides are heard”
Former Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS
Brett McGurk
“Three Presidents at War”
Former United States Ambassador to Poland, Weiser Family Distinguished Fellow, Atlantic Council
Daniel Fried
“The Fall of the Wall30 Years Later”
UK Consul General in Los Angeles
Michael Howells
“Navigating Business in a Post-Brexit UK”
United States Navy (Retired), Former Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command and Four-Star Admiral Navy SEAL
Admiral Eric Olson
“The World at Night”
Former Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Togo, Bahrain and Slovenia
Johnny Young
“Refugee Resettlement: How did we get here and how do we move on?”
Former United States Ambassador to South Korea; President and CEO, Korea Economic Institute of America
Kathleen Stephens
“Lessons from Korea”
Former United States Ambassador to NATO and former U.S. Ambassador to Greece; Professor, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government
Nicholas Burns
Current United States Ambassador to Turkey; former United States Ambassador to Georgia
John Bass
Granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower; former President and CEO of People to People International
Mary Eisenhower
Formerly Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs; United States Ambassador to Argentina and Mexico; Deputy United States Ambassador to Afghanistan
Earl Anthony "Tony" Wayne
“Building a Partnership with Mexico”
President, American University of Beirut
Peter Dorman
“The Challenges of the U.S. Higher Education Model in a Dynamic, Contentious Middle East”
Former United States Ambassador to Qatar and Lebanon
Mark G. Hambley
“Morality V. Reality in U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East”
Consul General of Brazil in Los Angeles
Bruno de Rísios Bath
"Brazil: A Current Perspective"
Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Former Italian Ambassador to India and Iran; former Head of Policy Planning; Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Roberto Toscano
“Iran and Democracy”
CIGI Chair of Global Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs; Distinguished Fellow at CIGI and Professor of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University; former Ambassador of Chile to India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; former Ambassador to South Africa
Jorge Heine
“Looking Sideways: Latin America, Emerging Powers and the U.S. in the New Century”
Former United States Ambassador to Zambia, Venezuela and Mexico
Jeffrey Davidow
"US and Mexico: Challenges for the Obama Administration"
Former United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan; Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Science Affairs (acting)
Reno Harnish
“Energy and Climate Policy: Getting the Balance Right”
Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States; Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to France
