Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Location: The Heritage Foundation's Allison Auditorium

It is a frequent perception in Washington and in the media throughout the Hemisphere that the United States has once again managed to lose its way in Latin America and has consistently failed to demonstrate sufficient interests in developments to the south.  From Havana to Caracas, from Managua to Quito, new, and not-so new, voices are raised on behalf of those proclaiming either the harmfulness or the irrelevance of the U.S. to the region and offering a variety of alternatives for Latin America’s persistent failings of inequality, poverty, and underdevelopment.  Assistant Secretary Shannon will present his view of the Western Hemisphere from the perspective of the U.S. State Department and discuss achievements of and challenges to U.S. policy in the region.

Thomas A. Shannon was confirmed as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs on October 7, 2005.  A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Mr. Shannon served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council from 2003 to 2005.  From 2002 to 2003, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the Department of State, where he was Director of Andean Affairs from 2001 to 2002.  He was U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS) from 2000 to 2001.  He has also served on the National Security Council and abroad in Venezuela, South Africa, Brazil and Guatemala.  Mr. Shannon holds a Doctorate and a Master's degree in politics from Oxford University, and a B.A. in Government and Philosophy from the College of William and Mary.