American diplomat, businessman, and writer.
A World Again Transformed Remarks to Chinese Attendees at the Cambridge Executive Leadership Program Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) By video, 8 July 2026 Five hundred and thirty-four years ago, for the first time, the world became one. Christopher Columbus – an Italian adventurer – was looking for
The Inevitability of Diplomacy Remarks to the Interns at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) By Video, 6 July 2026 Diplomacy gets a bad rap. Those who understand it least either fantasize about the impossible things it can supposedly accomplish or dismiss
The Forever War in West Asia and its Implications A Scene Setter for an Energy Intelligence Colloquium Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. By Video, June 26, 2026 Peace is more than the absence of combat between warring parties. Cicero defined it as “liberty in tranquility,” a condition in which states and peoples
The Birth, Death, and Prospective Rebirth of the World Order Remarks to a Schiller Institute Conference on the End of the 500-Year Colonial Era Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) By Video, 30 May 2026 We are witnessing the end of multiple epochs. The world of our parents and
The American Mis-imagination of China Remarks to a Colloquium on John Hay s Open Door Policy Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) Providence, Rhode Island, 2 May 2026 Let me begin, Zhuqing, by commending you and your students. I couldn’t join your December colloquium on John Hay and the Open
Remarks to the Energy Intelligence Advisory Board Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) By video, 24 April 2026 Alex has asked me to explain how the United States lost its position of primacy in West Asia and to do so in only seven or eight minutes. Fortunately, long ago,
The Global Consequences of the War in West Asia Remarks to an Emergency Roundtable of the Executive Intelligence Review Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) By Video, 6 April 2026 It’s an honor to join this gathering. I regret that I cannot do so in person. The war in
Introductory Remarks to a Gathering at Balancing Rock, Bristol, Rhode Island Chas W. Freeman, Jr, October 18, 2025 My brother, Robert, lived for eighty years – about fifteen years longer than our sister, Hope. I miss her and I miss him. Others here will have a lot to say about
Remarks to an Emergency Roundtable on The Strategic Implications of the Attack on Venezuela Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) By Video, 12 January 2026 We are here to avert a tragedy – the apparently inexorable unfolding of foreseeably terrible events. As German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has just warned
Ceding the Future to China Remarks to Brown University’s Watson School’s “China Chat” Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. (USFS, Ret.) Providence, Rhode Island, 2 December 2025 It is human to imagine that change lays bare the ambitions of those who benefit from it. China has successfully returned to wealth and