Swanee Hunt is the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. From 1993 to 1997, she served as ambassador to Austria, where she hosted negotiations and international symposia focused on stabilizing the neighboring Balkan states. Prior to that, she made her mark as a civic leader and philanthropist in Denver, where she led initiatives on public education, affordable housing, women's empowerment, and mental health services for two mayors and the governor. In 2007, Hunt was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She is a widely published columnist and has authored two books: the award-winning This Was Not Our War: Bosnian Women Reclaiming the Peace and a memoir, Half-Life of a Zealot. A composer and photographer, her world includes her husband (symphony conductor Charles Ansbacher), their three children, three grandchildren, horse, cat, and parrot.

Blog Entries by Amb. Swanee Hunt

Europe's Last Ruling Communists

1 Comments | Posted April 5, 2009 | 01:45 PM (EST)


Today is election day in Moldova, Europe's poor step-sister in the southeast corner, near the Black Sea. A good excuse to break out some of the most pleasant wines on the continent -- accompaniment to a smooth, ground lump of golden hominy, plus anything and everything smothered in sour cream....

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The Zeitgeist Has Appeared, and She's Smart

5 Comments | Posted March 17, 2009 | 04:13 PM (EST)


It's been a week of historic moments for women in the US and around the world.

Thinking back -- in August, I stood on the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Denver listening to pundits as they debated whether women would support Barack Obama. They did--56% of them,...

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An Historic Gathering in Monrovia

3 Comments | Posted March 10, 2009 | 09:42 AM (EST)


As the world celebrated International Women's Day on March 8, one gathering in particular testified to the resilience of the human spirit.

Some 800 guests assembled in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia on the coast of West Africa, for the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and...

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For Czechs, a Far Reach to Afghanistan

Posted March 6, 2009 | 09:33 AM (EST)


Continuing on my Eastern European trip, after Austria and Ukraine, I passed through the Czech Republic. Twenty years ago, Czechoslovakia became a democratic nation as a result of the Velvet Revolution. In 1993, the country peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Ten years ago it became a member...

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The UN's R2P Report Is Missing Out by Half

Posted March 2, 2009 | 04:29 PM (EST)


This post was coauthored by Sheila B. Lalwani, a graduate student at Harvard who is focusing on conflict and gender.

A few days ago, the United Nations released its latest report on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), the international commitment to prevent genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. The...

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Strains in Odessa

Posted February 9, 2009 | 02:01 PM (EST)


I'm at the concert hall in Odessa, sitting on stage behind the first violins as the orchestra rehearses the Scherzo of the Schumann Symphony No. 2. A wave of pathos moves across the groups of players. Now the mournful theme is shifting from minor to major, introducing an element of...

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Wanted: Ukrainian Women Experts

2 Comments | Posted February 5, 2009 | 11:58 AM (EST)


I'm in Kiev, sitting on a gray leather sofa, eating a small fish and tomato open sandwich when I hear the phrase which I've heard from hundreds, if not thousands of women before: "What you're saying is so important; I just don't think I have the expertise in this area...

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A Brief Sweep Through Eastern Europe

1 Comments | Posted February 3, 2009 | 12:36 PM (EST)


I'm on a swing through central/eastern Europe -- familiar territory since 1993, when I became US ambassador to Austria. In fact, my predecessor was none other than Roy Huffington. That's right: Arianna's father-in-law.

Since the mid-1990s, I've made dozens of trips to the newly independent states. (My husband, Charles Ansbacher,...

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A Structure to Match the Vision

25 Comments | Posted January 14, 2009 | 05:29 PM (EST)


Watching Hillary Clinton before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee was an unalloyed joy. Smart, committed, grounded. Values I've admired ever since we first worked together in 1992 on her husband's campaign. In fact, she's the reason I was appointed US Ambassador to Austria, where we brought 170 women leaders from...

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Will Obama Be Inclusive When it Comes to Security?

11 Comments | Posted December 12, 2008 | 01:20 PM (EST)


With the announcement of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and Susan Rice as Ambassador to the UN, much of the current commentary on the selection of President-elect Obama's impressive national security team has speculated that US foreign policy will actively champion women's rights, fighting horrors like mass rape and...

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Eighteen Million Cracks in the Presidential Glass Ceiling

Posted August 4, 2008 | 08:49 PM (EST)


A few days ago, standing front row, right, in a strangely barren room at a Boston hotel, I watched Hillary Clinton walk onto a stage with a rather lonely American flag, and again capture the admiration and imagination of every person in the audience. But this group was 80...

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The Meaning of Karadzic

Posted July 23, 2008 | 05:44 PM (EST)


July 21, 2008: The day that ended a 13-year failure. The day that promises were kept. The day that Serbian security forces met their responsibilities. The day that Dr. Radovan Karadzic was arrested for a war crimes indictment handed down July 24, 1995.

The former president of Bosnia's rebel...

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