Insights from USAID’s Last Mission Director for India

Join us for a fireside chat with Steve Olive, who served as the last USAID Mission Director for India before the agency’s recent dissolution. Olive is a retired minister counselor with a distinguished career of over 30 years spanning crisis response, regional diplomacy and strategic development across four continents, and he brings unparalleled insights into one of America’s most consequential bilateral relationships at a pivotal moment in history.

As India transitions from aid recipient to a strategic partner, and as the U.S. reimagines foreign assistance following USAID’s dissolution, what lessons emerge from the ground? Olive will share what was happening in India during his final year, how Indian partners responded to the evolving relationship, and what USAID’s dismantling means for U.S. strategic partners like India.

Drawing on his full career experience, Olive will offer personal reflections on the future of American foreign assistance and how the U.S.-India partnership should evolve as India emerges as a major global power. This is a rare opportunity to hear a candid, insider perspective at a moment when fundamental questions about America’s global role are being asked and answered in real time.

This public lecture series is organized by the 21st Century India Center at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS). For more information on India activities, please visit india.ucsd.edu.

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