Mr Mark Tokola, Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs, U.S. Embassy
Mark Tokola is the Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs and is a member of the US Senior Foreign Service. His most immediate posting before London was as Deputy Chief of Mission in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Among his other postings were two tours at the US Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Economic Counselor at the US Embassy The Hague, and Deputy Chief of Mission in Reykjavik, Iceland. Mr Tokola received a Superior Honour Award for his work on implementing the Dayton Peace Accords while serving as Political Counselor in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mr Tokola holds a BA in International Relations from Pomona College in Claremont, California, and a LLM in European Community Law from the University of Edinburgh.
Content of speech:
The US-UK relationship spans an extraordinary depth and level of contact over many years – the number of issues that overlap is breathtaking:
- common language
- common political interests
- both US and UK are globally-thinking nations
The US-EU relationship is less understood:
- where do the decisions happen – US or Brussels?
- US was an early enthusiastic supporter of EU – but it has been said:
You’ll never understand the relationship with the US and the EU
- wide and deep relationship with the EU
- keeps evolving – technological innovation
- dichotomy between being a ‘good European’ and a ‘good Atlanticist’
- Nomoi – Greek work meaning natural laws – redemptive narrative – peaceful way of avoiding war. This is the way forward with the EU.
The rise of China is an important story – trillions of dollars worth of trade: the biggest investor in each other’s economies. Most of what goes on in US trade is transatlantic.
World Trade Talks – he was disappointed with the latest round and trade deal – but was still ambitious especially as they have Congress on board.
Many questions followed at this very packed and fascinating meeting.