Upcoming Events

The Southeast Michigan World Affairs Council Presents: An Evening with Ambassador Kristjan Prikk

Thursday, December 4 at 6:30 pm

TechTown Detroit

Room: Fueling Station & Garage

440 Burroughs St., Detroit, MI 48202

Parking available at the free designated TechTown lot located one block north of TechTown on Amsterdam Street between Woodward and Cass. TechTown's entrance is on Burroughs Street, under the awning.

EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

We encourage attendees to become an official member of the Southeast Michigan World Affairs Council. To become a member, click on Membership Page.

December 4, 2025 - Ambassador Kristjan Prikk

Kristjan Prikk has served as Estonia´s Ambassador to the United States since May 2021. This is his third diplomatic posting to Washington, DC.

Before assuming his current duties, Prikk served for nearly three years as the Permanent Secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defense. In this role he was responsible for the management of the Ministry and for the coordination of activities of the agencies under the Ministry, including the Estonian Defense Forces, the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Centre for Defense Investments.

Prior to becoming the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Prikk worked as Undersecretary for Defense Policy in the Ministry of Defense from July 2017 to August 2018. From 2015 to 2017 Mr. Prikk was the Director of National Security and the Defense Coordination Unit of the Estonian Government Office, coordinating the development and implementation of the whole-of-government interagency approach to national defense in Estonia and advising the Prime Minister on these issues. He also served as Deputy Director of the same office for two years prior to becoming the Director in 2015.

His previous Ministry of Defense assignments include serving as Defense Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C. (2010-2013) and as Director of International Cooperation Department in Tallinn (2007-2010).

Prior to joining the Ministry of Defense, Mr. Prikk worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on NATO issues mainly pertaining to its enlargement and its partnership with Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia in the Security Policy and Arms Control Bureau (2006-2007). Additionally, he has held assignments as a diplomat covering trade and economic issues at the Estonian Embassy in Washington (2002-2006) and as a foreign trade and World Trade Organization specialist at the Foreign Ministry’s headquarters in Tallinn (1999-2002).

Mr. Prikk holds a Master’s degree from the Strategic Studies Program of the United States Army War College (2013) and a Bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from the University of Tartu, Estonia (2000).

In 2000-2001, Mr. Prikk performed his required military service in the Estonian Defense Forces, where he remains a reserve officer, and is also a member of Estonia’s voluntary defense organization Kaitseliit (Estonian Defense League). He has been decorated with the Order of the White Star (4th Class) by the President of the Republic of Estonia, the Cross of Merit (1st Class) of the Ministry of Defense of Estonia, as well as other decorations from the Estonian Defense Forces, the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board, among others.

February 19, 2026 - Ambassador Paul Jones

Ambassador Jones served as US Ambassador to Poland, US Ambassador to Malaysia, Chief of Mission in Pakistan, as well as assignments in Moscow, Vienna, Sarajevo, Skopje, Manila, and Bogota, during a 33-year diplomatic career. In Washington, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ambassador Jones is a board member of the US-Philippines society and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and American Academy of Diplomacy. He was the first US Ambassador to Malaysia to be conferred the honorary title of 'Dato’. He is the recipient of the Robert C. Frasure Memorial Award for Peace Building, the Presidential Meritorious Service Award, the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Honor Award, and several Superior Honor Awards.

March 18, 2026 - Melanie Sisson

Melanie W. Sisson is a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program’s Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology where her current work focuses on U.S. nuclear strategy and the role of nuclear weapons in foreign policy. Author of many books her latest is “The United States, China and the Competition for Control” that considers whether the United States and the People's Republic of China have irreconcilable visions of world order. She has an M.A. from Columbia University and a Ph.D from the University of Colorado.

April 15, 2026 - Roy Gutman

Roy Gutman is a Pulitzer Prize winning Journalist who spent five years reporting on the Middle East for McClatchy digital media company as Baghdad bureau chief and as Middle East bureau chief. Previously, his reporting on ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina, won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, the George Polk Award for foreign reporting, and the Selden Ring Award for investigative reporting. His latest book focuses on ISIS “How We Missed the Story: Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban and the Hijacking of Afghanistan".

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