World Trade Organization Selects CEIP

A San Francisco Bay Area financial executive, David Colin Burke brings more than two decades of experience to his role as the chief executive officer of Selby Lane LLC, a specialty finance company. Focused on efforts to improve the planet, David Colin Burke serves on the boards of several philanthropic organizations, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP).

In February 2021, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a member of CEIP’s Board of Trustees, was selected to lead the World Trade Organization (WTO). With a history extending to post-World War II reconstruction efforts and the creation of GATT, the WTO has roots in a U.S.-led initiative to create a multilateral, rules-based trading system.

In addition to being the first African to head the WTO, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala will be the first woman in that position. She brings an extensive background in international economic relations and policy reform to the table. Among her accomplishments was facilitating a debt relief agreement for Nigeria in 2005 that decreased the oil-rich country’s debt by $30 billion. At the same time, she spearheaded initiatives that improved transparency relative to Nigeria’s oil revenue management.

Ms. Okonjo-Iweala has indicated that she will focus on better coordinating international trade, with an emphasis on developing nation priorities. Major issues at hand include addressing export restraints in ways that enable nations to keep their markets open to food and other necessary goods. Another emphasis is on the thorny issue of fisheries subsidies, which have led to overfishing and overcapacity in some marine regions. A third item on the agenda is bringing China and the United States, as the world’s largest economies, back to the negotiating table on critical trade issues. The goal is to defuse tensions that have led to renewed trade wars and protectionism.

UVA Miller Center Article Focuses

 

A financial professional with extensive experience in venture capital and private equity investment, David Colin Burke possesses degrees in finance, law, and international relations from the University of Virginia (UVA). David Colin Burke continues to remain closely associated with his alma mater and serves as a member of the board of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at UVA, a nonpartisan organization that focuses on critical issues of domestic and international policy.

A recent Miller Center article brought focus to the importance of “threading the needle” when it comes to the Biden administration’s stance toward Iran and a potential nuclear deal. The current scenario is one in which President Biden is reorienting the United States toward the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) of the Obama era. In doing so, he is shifting from hardline, sanctions-focused policies, which had a net effect of accelerating Iran’s efforts to generate fissile material to create nuclear weapons.

According to the article, there are many cross-pressures at work, from Iran’s proxy wars in Iraq and Yemen, to recent IAEA discoveries of uranium particles at facilities that were previously undisclosed. In addition, the JCPOA has many shortcomings, from verification concerns to enrichment activity timelines that are unrealistically short. The bottom line is that, in order to advance U.S. non-proliferation policy in the region, President Biden is going to need to provide some degree of sanctions relief.

UVA Miller Center Creates New Hillary

A longtime Northern California finance executive, David Colin Burke manages the specialty finance company Selby Lane, LLC, as chairman and chief executive officer. With a strong philanthropic and community focus, David Colin Burke is a sponsor of the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law International Human Rights Clinic and a member of the board of the Miller Center.

In December 2020, the center announced the launch of an oral history project that focuses on Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former US senator, secretary of state, and first lady. This initiative aims to address a relative dearth of scholarship on Clinton's career, despite the high-level positions she held and her Democratic Party nomination in 2016 for President.

The initial project phase will focus on Clinton’s years as secretary of state and involve interviews with more than 70 people, including past staff members, leaders of nongovernmental organizations, and ministers and heads of state. In addition, Hillary Clinton has committed to sitting for a number of interviews and discussing her time in service as the chief diplomat of the United States. With the Miller Center’s director of presidential studies at the helm, the project seeks to combine “complexity and candor” in ways that will inform generations of diplomats, scholars, policymakers, and students.

Concentrates on Strengthening Democracy

Focused on identifying opportunities within global capital markets, David Colin Burke oversees Selby Lane, LLC, and maintains a strong commitment to philanthropy. In addition, David Colin Burke holds a board position with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

An article published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in early 2021 brought focus to a “profound” rebuilding process that will be required to shore up the bulwarks of American democracy. The issue at hand is partisan polarization that, counter-intuitively, does not have policy differences as its basis.

A majority of Americans find common ground on major issues ranging from immigration to gun legislation. What is fostering the polarization is increasing tribalism, with the Republican and Democratic parties locked into competitive ideologies that do not allow for much cooperation with the minority party within Congress or the Senate. Within such a zero-sum game, proper governance loses sway to political gains for their own sake. The resulting question is whether moderate candidates can break through this mold.