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Former Sierra Leone Ambassador To Discuss Implications Of Country's Elections For Democracy In Africa

BOSTON (September 17, 2007) — Former U.S. ambassador to Sierra Leone Thomas Hull will discuss the implications of the country's recent elections on democracy in Africa during a lecture Sept. 27 at Simmons College in Boston. The event, at 5 p.m. in the Linda K. Paresky Conference Center, 300 The Fenway, is free and open to the public.

The lecture features an insider's analysis given by Hull, who in September left his post as the American ambassador to Sierra Leone to assume the Warburg Chair in International Relations at Simmons College. The Sierra Leone elections are of particular interest to Africa watchers currently because the country is struggling to emerge as a democracy after years of civil war that produced, among other things, boy soldiers and the trade in illicit blood diamonds.

If a new democracy successfully emerges in the West African nation, Hull says, it could set a positive example for other African nations engaged in similar struggles.

Hull's experience in Sierra Leone goes back to 1968, when he started a two-year term there as a Peace Corps volunteer. In the decades since, he built a distinguished diplomatic career that included extensive expertise in African political, humanitarian and trade issues. He was posted to countries such as Ethiopia, South Africa, Nigeria, Somalia, Burkina Faso, Congo, Prague, and Czechoslovakia.

Hull's talk is the first in this year's Warburg Lecture Series on international topics of current interest. Established with a grant from Joan Warburg, a 1945 Simmons College graduate, the Warburg Chair in International Relations brings to Simmons a distinguished practitioner who has significant experience in international relations. Due to construction, parking is limited. For parking alternatives, visit the parking website.