CAMBRIDGE, MA—April 6, 2017—The MIT Center for International Studies’ signature public event series, the MIT Starr Forum, is featuring talks with former foreign secretaries: Jack Straw of the United Kingdom and Celso Amorim of Brazil.

Jack Straw, who was Britain's foreign secretary under Prime Minister Tony Blair, will be giving a talk on Brexit, Europe, and President Trump, on Thursday, April 6. 

Among the themes of his talk will be the Brexit and Trump phenomena and the potential for extreme nationalist gains in upcoming European elections. In addition to the public talk, Straw will be meeting with faculty and students.

The following week, on April 12, the Center will be hosting a Starr Forum with Brazil’s longest serving foreign minister Celso Amorim.

Amorim will be discussing his recent book, Acting Globally: Memoirs of Brazil’s Assertive Foreign Policy. He will also weigh-in on the current political crises in Brazil.

Amorim served as foreign secretary under both President Itamar Franco and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.  He also served as defense minister from August 2011 to December 2014 under President Dilma Rousseff.

“…Celso Amorim turned Brazil into a major actor on the world stage…The record he compiled is a model of what the world desperately needs: not threats and violence, but judicious and careful diplomacy,” noted Noam Chomsky in a published review of Amorim’s book.

Foreign Policy, in 2010, placed Amorim sixth in its list of "Top 100 Global Thinkers,” for transforming Brazil into a global player.

“It is an honor to welcome both Jack Straw and Celso Amorim to MIT. Both will be bringing far-reaching and valuable experiences as global leaders that will help inform those of us studying these issues, as well as the entire MIT community and beyond,” said John Tirman, executive director and a principal research scientist at CIS.

The MIT Starr Forum, hosted by the MIT Center for International Studies, aims to increase dialogue on pressing global issues by bringing to campus leading academics, policymakers and journalists. The events are free and open to the public.