In a prepared statement to the press, Patton said, “International trade and our government’s policies towards economic engagement with the world are critical drivers of both improving quality of life in financial terms and increasing global stability in a period of increasing uncertainty.”
Patton is the Acting Director of Maritime, Cargo and Trade Policy within the Department of Homeland Security, where his portfolio includes International Trade and Cargo Security issues, working in such areas as Operation Safe Commerce, Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism, Container Security Initiative, and developing private sector and international support for container security programs. He serves as Designated Federal Official for the Departmental Advisory Committee on the Commercial Operation of Customs and Border Protection and as a US delegate for World Trade Organization negotiations on trade facilitation.
The goal of the Global Affairs Lecture Series is to examine the conduct of foreign policy and to explore the configuration of forces (economic, political, social and environmental) now shaping global affairs. In so doing, the series will consider the responses of national governments, international agencies, and trans-national business and service entities.
This story was published on February 15, 2006.