John Negroponte Speaks at the CATS Roundtable Radio Show

Interview Highlights

On migration of Muslims from the Middle East to Europe because of the civil war in Syria and other conflicts: “What is of greater concern is the rather uncontrolled and large-scale way in which this is happening, there’s got to be some safe-havens or some zones nearer to where the refugees are coming from — nearer to Syria, Iraq — where the refugees can be put up temporarily until the situation’s stabilized in their countries. If they’re allowed to go all the way to Europe, very few will likely want to go back to where they came from once the problems get resolved. The closer you keep the refugees and the displaced people to their countries of origin, the greater the chance you have of ensuring and helping them get back to their country once the fighting has ended.”

Proposed a “safe zone” for Muslim refugees in Syria. “Turkey, which is a neighboring country that is very affected by this, could help to provide some troops to protect some kind of safety zone.”

About John Negroponte

John Negroponte is a British – American diplomat of Greek ancestry. He is currently a research fellow and lecturer in international affairs at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. Prior to this appointment, he served as the United States Deputy Secretary of State and as the first ever Director of National Intelligence. Negroponte served in the United States Foreign Service from 1960 to 1997. From 1981 to 1996, he had tours of duty as United States ambassador in Honduras, Mexico, and the Philippines. After leaving the Foreign Service, he subsequently served in the Bush Administration as U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations from 2001 to 2004, and was ambassador to Iraq from June 2004 to April 2005.