Former British ambassador to Cuba to present public lecture

Paul Hare, the British ambassador to Cuba from 2001-2004 who is currently a lecturer in international relations at Boston University, will discuss “Cuba: Past, Present and Future” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 3 in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall.

Hare specializes in Latin American foreign policy, diplomacy and Latin American studies. He graduated with first class honors in politics and economics from Oxford University in 1972 and from the College of Law in London in 1976.

He worked for five years in the private sector, in law and investment banking, before serving for 30 years in the British Diplomatic Service. Hare served overseas in Portugal, New York, at the U.K. representation at the European Union in Brussels, and in Venezuela as deputy head of mission.

He was head of the Foreign Office’s non-proliferation department and the first project director for the U.K.’s presence at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.

Hare is a fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and a member of the Brookings Institution core group on Cuba. He has written two policy briefs for Brookings: “The Odd Couple; The EU and Cuba 1996-2008” and “US Public Diplomacy for Cuba: Why It’s Needed and How to Do It.”

With Carlos Blanco, he is the coauthor of a Brookings paper published in November 2010 on Cuba and Venezuela: “Is Three a Crowd – the Venezuela factor in Cuba’s policy towards the United States.” He is an invited Cuba contributor to the New York Times online Cuba Topics and has written articles for the Miami Herald.

Hare served as president of the British Baseball Federation from 2000-2001. He has been designated a lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. His novel “Moncada – A Cuban Story” is set in modern Cuba and was published in May 2010.