The Academy -- which trains mid-level managers and senior officials of government offices in areas such as financial management, socio-economic processes, and management principles -- invited Norland to speak as part of an ongoing series of discussions with Ambassadors.

In his speech on “American Foreign Policy and Diplomacy”, Ambassador Norland spoke about the historic balance in US foreign policy between isolationism on the one hand and interventionism on the other. Each of these tendencies grows out of aspects of American history, he said, but in today’s world of increasing globalization, it is making less sense to hold on to such a dichotomy.

“No country can truly be isolated and survive. And no country can take unilateral action in total disregard of the wishes of the international community,” he said. “The broad swings in US foreign policy between those two extremes are beginning to abate.”

Interlinked economies and global challenges such as combating terrorism and addressing climate change are pushing nations to work together toward common solutions, he said.

The students asked a wide range of interesting and insightful questions about the US perspective on economic relations between the two countries, the role of civil society in Uzbekistan, and the path forward in Afghanistan.

Norland spoke about the important role Uzbekistan is playing in the efforts to stabilize and rebuild Afghanistan, including its work on building transportation infrastructure and forming a link in supply lines. He emphasized that the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) of supplying materials to Afghanistan would provide economic opportunities in Uzbekistan, and that the transportation links through Afghanistan would be of enormous benefit in connecting the markets of Pakistan and India to the economies of Central Asia.

“The NDN has great economic potential,” Norland said. “I believe this network, developing little-by-little, is very important to your future.”

Ambassador Norland also spoke about the continuing progress being made in Uzbek-US relations through the framework of the Annual Bilateral Consultations. The two nations are engaged in fruitful discussions in areas including trade and investment, military-technical cooperation, and academic exchanges, he said.

As part of that, the Academy of State and Social Construction expressed interest in exploring the possibility of short-term academic exchanges with American research centers.

The Academy, which falls under the Office of the President of the Republican of Uzbekistan, was founded in 1995 to train managers of local government offices (hokimiyat), ministries, and other public institutions to improve their professional backgrounds. Through classes that range from 5-day seminars to 12-month courses, the Academy helps prepare graduates to take on leading positions in the Government of Uzbekistan.