Ep 28: Ambassador Cindy Courville - 1st US Ambassador to the African Union

The Aid Market Podcast

Ambassador Cindy Courville joins Mike Shanley to discuss her work as the first Ambassador for the African Union. She talks about what it was like to enter into that role and how she worked with African Leaders to ensure their voices were heard, as well as what it meant to them to have someone assigned to Africa. Ambassador Courville describes the way the relationships have changed throughout different Presidencies and that it is critical to choose our next President based on the needs of other countries. Lastly, Ambassador Courville talks about what someone looking to get started in the development and diplomatic sector should be focused on. Tune in to learn more about the African Union.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [1:49] What is Ambassador Courville’s view on global security?

• [2:43] What does she see as the interplay between intelligence and development in promoting development outcomes?

• [5:32] What was Ambassador Courville’s experience being the first Ambassador to the African Union and what was her role?

• [9:25] How have the policies changed since the first implemented policies?

• [14:28] What did it mean to the African Leaders to have an Ambassador assigned to them?

• [16:25] Has there been momentum on the foundation of engagement with African nations and leaders under the Biden administration?

• [19:56] How do the current African leaders see geopolitical options to them in the US, China, and other nations?

• [24:26] What is Ambassador Courville’s insight on good development and the importance of interagency work?

• [27:25] What is Ambassador Courville’s insight to someone that wants to cut development funding or diplomatic funding?

• [31:53] Ambassador Courville’s advice for someone getting started in the development or diplomatic sector.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• If we fall or shift to a more authoritarian situation, that is not in the best interest of African countries or developing countries in general.

• We need to have a democracy and a leadership that is focused on maintaining democracy, not curtailing the rights and freedoms of Americans.

• The more politically and economically stable we are, the less you have to use other tools, and you only want to use those other tools in the most extreme situations.

QUOTES:

• [21:35] “The Africans have been extremely forgiving and understanding. I would say, extremely democratic in their outlook, so they recognize the dynamics and shifts on a level that the average American just doesn’t get. I’m not just talking the leadership of Africa, but the people themselves, and so you can’t expect them not to engage.” - Ambassador Cindy Courville

• [24:33] “If I were writing the policy for USAID today, or for the administration, not just for Africa, but in general, I would say we need to increase the size of USAID. USAID’s mission is so huge, but the number of personnel and NGOs are great, but we need more continuity in that process.” - Ambassador Cindy Courville

• [31:19] “We haven't resolved our civil war issues, women’s issues, all of those things that are fundamentally part of a democracy.” - Ambassador Cindy Courville

RESOURCES:

NSL4A Steering Committee

Aid Market Podcast

Aid Market Podcast YouTube

BIOGRAPHY:

Ambassador (retired) Cindy Courville, Ph.D. currently serves on the executive board of the National Security Executives and Professional Association (NSEPA) and as a member of the Steering Committee of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS). Previously Ambassador Courville served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Social Science Foundation Board for the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.

Within the U.S. government national security enterprise Ambassador Courville has served in a number of positions for nearly 20 years in the Department of State, the National Security Council, the Defense Intelligence Agency , and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In the academic arena, Ambassador Courville taught at the National Intelligence University, Occidental College, and Hanover College.

Ambassador Courville served as the first U.S. Ambassador to the African Union where she was significantly instrumental in organizing and managing the fiftieth U.S. mission in Africa from November 2006-May 2008. She led the U.S., European Union, and Non-African Observer countries negotiating efforts to design and implement the Strategic Planning Management Unit to support the African Union Mission to Somalia. Also, she facilitated engagements with the ambassadors from Algeria, Ethiopia, and Uganda to develop a strategic engagement plan for the launch and sustainment of a Ugandan People’s Defense Force led African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia. In addition, Ambassador Courville led a team of experts that developed a Disaster Readiness Program. Under her leadership, this effort was fully funded at $1 million to assist the African Union in the creation of a standardized, coordinated system to monitor, address and remedy humanitarian crises in Africa.

From 2004 – 2006 at the National Security Council (NSC), Dr. Courville served as the Special Assistant to the President of the United States and Senior Director for African Affairs. She was responsible for developing and implementing critical strategic bilateral U.S. – Africa policy and relations that contributed to the advancement of U.S.- Africa political, economic, military partnerships, and security alliances. Dr. Courville served as the White House and NSC lead working in collaboration with the Nigerian government and the Special Court for Sierra Leone Office of the Prosecutor that helped bring former Liberian President Charles Taylor to justice for war crimes at The Hague. In addition, Dr. Courville led the NSC interagency process that resulted in the U.S. training, airlifting and deployment of African Union troops in Darfur. Also, she helped to create and launch the Corporate Council on Africa, a public private partnership in support of the Presidential Malaria Initiative.

Ambassador Cindy Courville received her Ph.D. and M.A. in international studies from the University of Denver and received her M.A. and B.A. in political science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Also, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Louisiana, selected as the Korbel School of International Studies 2014 Alumni of the Decade, and received the University of Denver Alumni Association Professional Achievement Award. Ambassador Courville is a Shell Oil Fellow, Ford Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow, International Career and Advancement Fellow and Department of Defense Executive Leadership Development Fellow.