Live from London...
January 31, 2010 - Sir Christopher Meyer, former British ambassador to the United States, delivers a wonderfully candid view of diplomatic life
Barely halfway through his first UNC class, Sir Christopher Meyer beamed with mischievous glee as students tried to guess who might've been the most boring dinner party guest in late '90s Washington, D.C.
Meyer's wife, Lady Catherine Meyer, was answering a question about diplomatic spouses when she mentioned the agony of being cornered at embassy parties by one particularly dull American official.
"I don't know if I can name names..." Lady Catherine demurred. But Sir Christopher, as students are already calling him, would have none of it.
"Give clues, give clues!" he urged as the class burst into laughter.
Before long, it emerged that Alan Greenspan was the renowned bore, refusing to talk about anything other than commodities trading. At this revelation, Sir Christopher turned sternly toward the class and summoned all the seriousness of a former British ambassador to the United States.
"If you ever find yourself sitting next to Alan Greenspan," he warned the undergraduates of Honors 353, "now you know what to talk about."
And so it went for more than an hour, as the first Morehead-Cain Alumni Distinguished Visiting Professor held forth on everything from British journalism to the byzantine complexity of American government.
By the end of class, it was easy to forget that Meyer and his wife were speaking from London, linked to UNC through the high-tech gadgetry of Peabody Hall. Students asked questions and cracked jokes as Meyer peered down from two giant projector screens. Cameras mounted on the wall of the classroom ensured that Meyer could see all of the action in Chapel Hill.
"A monstrous regiment of Tar Heels!" Meyer exclaimed as students greeted him through the video link.
It was a dazzling start to Ambassador Meyer's tenure teaching "Empire & Diplomacy," a course designed in conjunction with UNC-Chapel Hill English Professor Ted Leinbaugh.
Thanks to the generosity of Morehead-Cain Alumni, about forty students — including several current Morehead-Cain Scholars — will spend the semester enjoying the wit and wisdom of one of Great Britain's most distinguished former diplomats.
"This is a special course," Leinbaugh promised on the first day of class. "We're inventing it as it goes along, basically."
Leinbaugh and his students will have plenty of material to work with. The syllabus runs from the Akkadian Empire to the current war in Afghanistan, and Meyer seems perfectly comfortable delving into any topic in between.
In addition to his time as ambassador to the United States from 1997 to 2003, Meyer has served as ambassador to Germany, held posts in Spain and the Soviet Union, and served as press secretary to Prime Minster John Major.
In recent years, he has been thrust into the limelight of British politics by his controversial memoir, DC Confidential. The book, first published in 2005, recounts vivid details of Meyer's time in Washington, including the run-up to the Iraq War.
Students are reading the memoir for class and have found that Meyer does not pull punches. "Meyer's Washington reminiscences are sensational," wrote Simon Jenkins in the Guardian newspaper in 2005. "He portrays the prime minister [Tony Blair] as a star-struck wimp and his cabinet as a bunch of 'pygmies.'"
Not surprisingly, the publication of DC Confidential caused a significant uproar for the British government. Or, as Meyer put it to the class, the book "set the cat among the pigeons."
How the book made it through a pre-publication review by Britain's Cabinet Office was discussed at length during class. Meyer told students that he expected at least some push-back from government reviewers and was thoroughly surprised when none came.
"I thought to myself, 'Damn! I should have put more sex in it!'"
Matt Garza '09, one of the student members of the committee that selected Meyer for the Morehead-Cain Alumni professorship, said the ambassador's easy rapport with students was a key factor in selecting him for the award.
"You really get the sense that he loves to interact with students," Garza said. "Even though he's been in the highest reaches of international politics and leadership, he's drawn to an academic and educational environment."
Leinbaugh agreed, telling of Meyer's enthusiasm when the idea for the "Empire & Diplomacy" class was first broached.
Meyer will teach remotely from London for the next several weeks, with Leinbaugh leading half the sessions. In mid-March, following Spring Break, Meyer will travel to Chapel Hill to spend at least two weeks on campus.
After a well-attended series of public lectures in December, when Meyer traveled to UNC for the first time, Leinbaugh is already working to coordinate a number of campus events for the March visit.
"It's such a remarkable opportunity," Leinbaugh said. "We want to get the most out his time."
See a recent opinion piece Meyer published in the Daily Mail. Students were assigned the article for class.
See Simon Jenkins's review of DC Confidential from the Guardian.
A recent interview with Meyer at the New America Foundation. He talks with Steve Clemons about his latest book, "Getting Our Way." Students will be reading the book later in the semester.
