Description

As the United Nations faces an escalating funding crisis and warnings of an “imminent financial collapse,” the organization’s future has been thrown into urgent question. With the 2026 transition to a new Secretary-General unfolding amid deep geopolitical divides and shrinking political support, this leadership change will help determine whether the UN can remain effective in an increasingly unstable global environment. 

Join the Los Angeles World Affairs Council for a special conversation with Ambassador Robert Wood, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN.  Ambassador Robert A. Wood, who most recently served as the U.S. Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations and previously as the Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, brings deep diplomatic experience and a unique insider perspective on the institutional challenges shaping the UN’s future.

Light refreshments (cookies, coffee, tea, and water) will be provided.

Bio:

Ambassador Robert Wood

Robert A. Wood was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on December 15, 2021, to serve as the Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations and Alternate Representative of the United States for Special Political Affairs in the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations with the rank of Ambassador.  He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in September 2022, serving until 2025.

Ambassador Wood, a career Foreign Service Officer for 33 years before retiring in 2021, previously served as the United States Representative to the Conference on Disarmament and as United States Special Representative for Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC) Issues at the United States Mission to the United Nations in Geneva from July 2014 – October 2021. From 2018-2021, he also served as the United States Commissioner of the Bilateral Consultative Commission of the New START Treaty.

Before serving in Geneva, he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the United States Mission to the European Union from August 2013-2014. Ambassador Wood also served as the Deputy United States Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria from 2010-2013. From 2008-2010, he was the State Department’s Deputy Spokesman and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. During the first six months of the Obama Administration, he served as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Acting State Department Spokesman.

From 2004-2008 he served as the Press Attaché at the United States Embassy in Berlin, Germany. Prior to his assignment to Berlin, he was Deputy Spokesman at the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York from 2001-2004. In Washington, Ambassador Wood worked as a public affairs advisor for the Bureau of African Affairs, as a special assistant to the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and in positions dealing with the Balkans.

Ambassador Wood also served in public affairs positions in Mexico City, Mexico; Lagos, Nigeria; Islamabad, Pakistan; and Pretoria, South Africa. He speaks German, Spanish and French.

In 2021, Ambassador Wood received the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award. He has also received multiple Senior Foreign Service Performance awards. He was awarded in June 2019 a Knighthood of the Order of Lafayette. He graduated Cum Laude from the City University of New York with a B.A. in Journalism in 1985.  Ambassador Wood is married to Gita Gouri-Wood and they have one son, Jonathan.

Moderator:

Dr. Felicity Vabulas

Felicity Vabulas is the Blanche E. Seaver Associate Professor of International Studies at Pepperdine University. Her research focuses on the political economy of international cooperation. Specifically, she is interested in when and why states change how they cooperate internationally and the implications this has for international relations. Her research includes examining states’ exit from international agreements, states’ engagement in informal modes of global governance, and states pushing for different foreign policy strategies through foreign lobbying. Her 2025 book, Exit from International Organizations: Costly Negotiation for Institutional Change (published by Cambridge University Press) was awarded the International Studies Association's 2026 Chadwick F. Alger Prize for the best book on international organizations.

Vabulas’ other research is published in the Review of International Organizations, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, Global Perspectives, Global Policy, European Journal of International Relations, International Politics and multiple edited volume chapters. She has been awarded a Seaver College Endowed Professorship and the Howard A. White Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her earlier research received a best paper award from the American Political Science Association and has been supported by the World Bank, the National Science Foundation, and the International Studies Association. She serves on the Journal of Politics and American Journal of Political Science Editorial Boards. Vabulas received her Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Chicago’s Harris School.