ORONO – The message a former assistant secretary of state brought to the University of Maine Thursday afternoon didn’t shed a lot of new light on public diplomacy in the post-Cold War world, according to students who attended her speech Thursday. A high school social studies teacher, however, said it was important for young people to hear about the world outside Maine from someone who has lived and worked on several continents.

Phyllis Oakley, who served in Republican and Democratic administrations, spoke on “American Diplomacy in the Post-Cold War World at Hauck Auditorium in the Memorial Union.” Her lecture was sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Maine and the William S. Cohen Center of International Policy and Commerce.

“The issues of diplomacy the United States faced during the past 10 years were different than any we have faced before,” she told an audience of about 300, that included 60 Bangor High School students. “I believe that in the next decade we will face more questions about intervention for humanitarian reasons that requires using military force.”

She pointed to Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo as places where intervention had failed and unanticipated consequences had resulted, including a decision by leaders in European nations to create their own defense system rather than rely on American “firepower.” Oakley predicted that the unstable economic and political forces would result in “imploding countries,” whose problems could cause regional instability.

“Colombia is an example,” she said. “It has a government that has been democratically elected, narco[tics] dealers who act like feudal lords, right-wing rebels and left-wing militias. All that could spill over into other nations causing instability in the region.”

UM senior Michael Kane plans to teach high school social studies. He said that Oakley had a large audience of young people, but didn’t clearly outline the direction world diplomacy seems to be headed. Kane also said he wished she’d put more an emphasis on the service side of her career.

“She talked a bit about the risks this generation is facing in the next decade,” he said. “She didn’t really outline what direction that generation should be going in. I think we need a renewed emphasis on patriotism and public service. I think it’s up to me as a future teacher to show kids how amazing it is to serve other people.”

Ryan Bradeen teaches global studies at Bangor High. He said that Oakley’s speech was a “natural fit” with many of the topics covered in students’ classes. Bradeen added that it was important for student aspirations for them to see people who had achieved the stature Oakley had.

“The work of the World Affairs Council bringing people together who are involved in larger world affairs is very important for our students,” he said. “Our participation is exceedingly important for the vision of our students. They need as much exposure to different perspectives from different places as we can find.”

Oakley began her career with the State Department in 1957, but was forced to quit a year later when she married a fellow member of the diplomatic corps. Married women were not allowed to serve then. She was able to rejoin the department in 1974, after a series of lawsuits forced the rules about married women serving in the diplomatic corps to change.

She served as spokeswoman for former Secretary of State George Schultz and in intelligence for Secretaries of State James Baker and Madeline Albright. She also held positions in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the office of Congressional Affairs and the U.S. Agency for International Development, working in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East.

Oakley retired from the State Department last year. She now lectures, teaches at Georgetown University and serves on various boards. She lives in Washington, D.C.