Princeton N. Lyman
Fmr. Asst. Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs

• Does the ICC respect and promote American values? (1:14) Audio Video
• What is the history of the U.S.’s involvement with the ICC? (0:53) Audio Video
• Why should the U.S. engage with the ICC? (1:05) Audio Video
• Why should the U.S. support the ICC? (1:00) Audio Video
• What should the U.S. government do now? (1:34) Audio Video

Biography

Ambassador Lyman is the Ralphe Bunche senior fellow and director of Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

Ambassador Lyman’s career in government included assignments as deputy assistant secretary of state for Africa (1981–1986), U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria (1986–1989), Director of Refugee Programs (1989–1992), Ambassador to South Africa (1992–1995), and Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs (1996–1998). He served as director of the U.S. Agency for International Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 1976–1978).

From 1999 to 2003, Ambassador Lyman was Executive Director of the Global Interdependence Initiative at the Aspen Institute, and he remains chairman of the project’s advisory board. Ambassador Lyman is a member of several other boards, including the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Fund for Peace, Plan/USA, the Amy Biehl Foundation, the U.S.-South Africa Business Council, and the Board on African Science Academy Development for the National Academy of Science. He is a member of the HIV/AIDS Task Force and co-chairs the Southern Africa Working Group for the Corporate Council on Africa.

Ambassador Lyman has a DPhil in Political Science from Harvard University. He has published books and articles on foreign policy, African affairs, economic development, HIV/AIDS, UN reform, and peacekeeping. He has published op-eds in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times and the International Herald Tribune. His book, Partner to History: The U.S. Role in South Africa’s Transition to Democracy, was published in 2002.