2013 - Thomas O. Melia - Is it realist to think we can advance democracy and human rights?

The 2013 DDMI Annual Lecture was given on 19 March by Thomas O. Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), in the United States Department of State. Melia was responsible for the DRL's work in Europe, including Russia, and in the Middle East and North Africa. He has headed the US Delegation to meetings of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and co-chaired meetings of US / Georgia and US / Ukraine working groups.

Thomas Melia joined the State Department in 2010 from Freedom House where he was Deputy Executive Director.  Previously, he held senior posts at the National Democratic Institute and the Free Trade Union Institute at the AFL-CIO. Prior to that, he worked on Capitol Hill, working for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.  Mr. Melia has taught democracy and human rights courses at Georgetown University and the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.  He has published a number of widely read articles on democracy and human rights issues, and is co-editor of Today's American: How Free? (2008).