Retired Ambassador Daniel Shields will address the use of diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific Region during a presentation to the Alabama World Affairs Council on Feb. 22 at Troy University’s Montgomery Campus.
The event, which will begin with a 5:30 p.m. reception followed by the presentation “The Diplomatic Instrument of Power in the Indo-Pacific Region: A Former Ambassador’s Perspective” at 6:15 p.m., will be held both in-person in the Gold Room, located on the second floor of Whitley Hall at the Montgomery Campus, and online via Zoom. Registration for the event is available atwww.alwac.org.
Ambassador Shields consults, teaches courses and conduct simulations related to diplomacy and U.S.-Asia relations.
From 2015-18, while on detail from the U.S. State Department as the Diplomatic Advisor to the Commandant at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Penn., he helped educate future strategic leaders on how to integrate the diplomatic, informational, military and economic (DIME) instruments of power to achieve national security objectives.
He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Brunei from 2011-14, handling sensitive South China Sea-related issues in connection with Brunei’s hosting in 2013 of the various Summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Ambassador Shields led two other U.S. diplomatic Missions in Southeast Asia as Chargé d’Affaires at times when no Ambassador was in place.
In response to an urgent request from the State Department, Ambassador Shields temporarily left the Army War College for six months in 2017 to serve as the Chargé at the U.S. Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta, traveling to Manila to support participation by the President and Cabinet Secretaries in the ASEAN-related Summits. His other Chargé duty was for 15 months, mainly in 2009, when he led Embassy Singapore in supporting then-President Obama’s participation in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.
His earlier career assignments were mainly in Japan and China, including as Political Minister Counselor at Embassy Beijing from 2004-07. He speaks Japanese and Chinese. His first tour in the Foreign Service was as a Vice Consul at Embassy Manila from 1985-87, where he witnessed firsthand and reported on the People Power demonstrations and the fall of the Marcos regime.
Ambassador Shields earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Affairs from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and holds a master’s degree in National Security Policy Studies from the National War College.
The Alabama World Affairs Council sponsors lectures and programs on current and recent events of national and international interest throughout the year with the aim to increase individuals’ knowledge of world affairs and how they impact the United States. The Council also serves as a platform to showcase some of the world-class faculty at Maxwell Air Force Base’s Air University. The Council has partnered with Troy University, Alabama’s International University, bringing all Council events to the University’s Montgomery Campus.
