Timothy L. Towell's Schools

• Case Western Reserve University , Class of 1962 MA European History

• Yale University , Class of 1957 Bachelors in Politics

Timothy L. Towell's Publications

• The Early History of Starbucks, Ambassador Timothy Towell November, 2010 By: Timothy L. Towell Founded in Seattle, Washington, in 1971, international retail coffee shop Starbucks has since become a worldwide institution, with more than 17,000 locations in 49 countries. Owing largely to the entrance of Howard Schultz as Director of Retail Operations and Marketing in 1982, Starbucks soon became a household name in the Seattle, Washington, area and gained recognition for its line of high-quality coffee beans and equipment. Outside of his work at Starbucks, Shultz launched his own chain of specialty coffee shops to address the burgeoning American demand for espresso and coffee drinks. Under the moniker of Il Giornale, Shultz’ Italian coffee shops eventually surpassed Starbucks in growth and earnings potential and, due to his success with the Il Giornale chain, Shultz was able to purchase Starbucks from its owners in 1987. Rebranding each of his Il Giornale shops as Starbucks, Shultz launched an ambitious campaign to establish Starbucks retail outlets outside of Seattle. The initiative proved highly successful, with Starbucks gaining brand recognition at retail locations in Chicago and Vancouver. Starbucks continued to expand over the next few years and became a publicly traded company in 1992. At the time of Starbucks’ IPO, the company consisted of 165 retail locations in the United States and abroad.

• Romance Languages, Ambassador Timothy L. Towell December, 2010 By: Ambassador Timothy L. Towell The Romance languages, which typically include French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, and Catalan, constitute a branch of the Indo-European language family. The Romance languages themselves belong to the Italic subfamily, which includes all the languages that descend from Latin. Romance languages derive from the continuation of Vulgar Latin, a popular dialect spoken by ancient Roman soldiers, settlers, and merchants. Vulgar Latin stands in contrast to the Classical Latin spoken by members of the upper classes and transcribed into writing. During the rapid expansion of the Roman Empire between 350 BC and 150 AD, Roman officials enforced administrative and educational policies making Latin the dominant language across Western Europe. When the Roman Empire began to decline in the 5th century, Vulgar Latin began to diversify by region, resulting in recognizably different forms of the Latin mother tongue. Although the form of Latin spoke in Britain disappeared during the Middle Ages, many tribes and settlers in former Latin-speaking states adopted the languages already spoken there. With the expansions of the Portuguese, Spanish, and French empires in the 15th century and beyond, Romance language-speaking cultures exported their language to many faraway continents. Today, approximately 70 percent of all Romance language speakers live outside Europe. Romance languages today include most of the same phonology, morphology, lexicon, and syntax of their Latin ancestor. Unlike Vulgar Latin, modern Romance languages exclude the use of a declension system in favor of a subject-verb-object sentence structure that makes heavy use of prepositions. Some scholars believe that Vulgar Latin already included these syntactical differences during the height of the Empire and that Classical Latin was exclusively reserved for official and formal occasions. Until the 10th century, all Romance languages maintained a Latin written form. Between the 10th and 13th century, many vernacular languages began to develop their own written forms. In some regions, prominent writers began to compose works entirely in the vernacular, such as Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. The invention of the printing press in the 16th century slowed the evolution of Romance languages and placed a premium on standard language systems within political boundaries. Today, over 800 million people worldwide speak Romance languages, more than half of which speak Spanish.

• U.S.-Paraguay Relations, Timothy L. Towell March, 2011 Timothy L. Towell served as the U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay from 1988 until 1991, the last five months of the thirty-four-year dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner and the first three years of a transition to democracy under Andres Rodriguez. The United States and Paraguay have enjoyed cooperative relations for decades and have worked together on many joint initiatives involving economic development, environmental stewardship, and the prevention of crime and terrorism. Among the many areas of cooperation, the United States and Paraguay work together to combat the South American narcotics trade. As the Paraguay border trisects those of Brazil and Argentina, narcotics trafficking organizations have traditionally used the area for transporting drugs, money laundering, and human trafficking. Through joint efforts between the United States and Paraguay, these activities have been significantly curtailed. Economically, the United States and Paraguay actively trade together. Major industries include information and communications technology, financial services, and natural resources. Exports to Paraguay from the United States are more than 10 times the reverse by revenue. Until recently, the two countries also participated in joint military training exercises. In 2009, however, Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo canceled further joint exercises on the grounds that he did not deem them necessary. Other U.S. involvement in Paraguay includes the largest Peace Corps program in the Hemisphere, with joint projects in the areas of public health, education, and agricultural, among others. U.S. – Paraguayan cooperation includes such diverse projects as debt restructuring, taxation reform, elections, and including even the reconstruction of the Paraguay National Library

• Ambassador Timothy L. Towell on the George H.W. Bush Presidency, Timothy L. Towell April, 2011 President Ronald Reagan first appointed Timothy L. Towell as United States Ambassador to Paraguay in 1988. President George Herbert Walker Bush renewed the appointment, and Timothy L. Towell served as Ambassador until 1991, when President Bush appointed him as the Director for Africa of the Peace Corps. Serving under the George H.W. Bush administration provided Timothy L. Towell a front row seat to history, and he offers these significant accomplishments of President George H.W. Bush’s administration. 1. The George Herbert Walker Bush Presidency oversaw the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the communist empire of the Soviet Union, as well as the reunification of Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall that separated East Berlin from West Berlin. 2. Recognizing a significant threat to world safety, President George H.W. Bush’s administration overthrew the corrupt regime of General Manuel Noriega in Panama, and brought him to trial in the United States for drug trafficking. 3. As Commander and Chief, President Bush initiated Operation Desert Storm. United States troops fought for a free Kuwait, defeating Saddam Hussein and securing the safety of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the American oil supply. 4. President Bush supported government fiscal responsibility, attempting to reduce the national debt by lowering taxes. 5. The President signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law in 1991, leveling the playing field for millions of American citizens. 6. President Bush signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, ending a long buildup of weapons between the two superpowers. 7. The Bush administration worked to open up world trade, seeking to lower tariffs. Ultimately, President Bush’s efforts resulted in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). 8. The administration passed a revision of the Clean Air Act, which was a significant piece of environmental legislation.

• An Interview with Ambassador Timothy Towell, Timothy L. Towell June, 2011 After being trained and becoming fluent in Spanish, French, and Portuguese, Ambassador Timothy Towell began working in Latin America as a Consul in Asunción, Paraguay. His foreign relations experience for the Department of State also includes service in Spain, Belgium, and several locations in Latin America. Ambassador Timothy Towell, who has received numerous awards and accolades for his role with the U.S. Department of State, has worked in several positions for the government agency. I enjoyed the chance to talk with Ambassador Towell earlier this week about some of his experiences in the foreign service sector. Q. Thanks for joining me today. I understand that you are President of the Foreign Policy Group. Can you tell me a little about this organization’s role in the U.S. and abroad? A. I am glad to be here, and thank you. I retired from the U.S. government in 1993 and decided to establish the Foreign Policy Group in Washington, D.C. This firm, which meets the need for international consulting in many different sectors, focuses on subjects like environmental and energy issues, corruption, counter-terrorism, and foreign investment and trade. Q. You have served the U.S. government in a lot of professional roles. What are some of these positions? A. I first joined the U.S. government as a Vice Consul in Valencia, Spain, and I later became the Special Assistant to the Ambassador in Madrid. Some of my other experience includes two years in the capacity of Peace Corps Director for Africa, three years of service as the U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, and five years as the Deputy Chief of Protocol of the U.S. Q. What are some examples of awards you have been granted for your service? A. I received the U.S. Department of State Superior Honor Award, and I was appointed to the role of U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay by former President Ronald Reagan, due to my success in previous positions.

• Mexico-U.S. Drug Issues, Timothy L. Towell December, 2011 In a recent Washington dinner focused on Latin America, honoring former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, which was sponsored by many institutions and NGO’s including the Inter-American Dialogue, former U.S. Ambassador Timothy Towell asked Governor Richardson his views on the U.S-Mexican drug trafficking issue. Specifically, Towell posited that the crisis – and resulting violence – is primarily the fault of the United States. Our citizens are the overwhelming users of the drugs; financial institutions illegally “money launder” the huge profits of this lucrative trade back to the international drug cartels; and we are hiding behind our Second Amendment rights about bearing arms to illegally sell prohibited military-grade weapons to Mexico from the thousands of gun shops along the border. Governor Richardson essentially agreed with Towell, but he stressed that when users and traffickers are arrested and sent to jail in the U.S., our prison system should seek to rehabilitate those prisoners and not just lock them up. Richardson also emphasized the importance of educating our youth on the dangers – both socially and medically – of using drugs. Ambassador Towell also raised the same drug issue October 21 at a joint Woodrow Wilson Center – Inter-American Dialogue session with Josefina Vazquez Mota, a former Mexican Congresswoman and a candidate for President in next year’s Mexican election. Mrs. Vazquez Mota agreed with Ambassador Towell on the substance, but pointed out that official Mexican government positions critical of the United States often turn out to be counterproductive.

• The Council of American Ambassadors , Ambassador Timothy Towell 's Blog on Bigsight December, 2011 In the 18th century, the Second Continental Congress of the new United States of America appointed “Benjamin Franklin” as the Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of France, beginning a long and rich history of citizen diplomacy. Non-career diplomats come from business, the law, academia, the military, the arts, and public life, bringing with them the experience and knowledge gained in their careers. In 1983, a group of former ambassadors founded the Council of American Ambassadors to support the Foreign Service and the U.S. State Department, as well as recognize its diplomats’ achievements. The Council today includes more than 230 retired and active ambassadors bridging both major political parties and covering the terms of 10 U.S. Presidents. The nonprofit organization receives funding through membership dues, donations, and corporate and private foundations. To illuminate the public and government officials on foreign policy issues, the council offers a lecture/dialogue series called the Benjamin Franklin and biannually publishes a foreign affairs journal, The Ambassadors REVIEW. Ambassador Timothy L. Towell, former U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, sits on the Board of Directors for the Council of American Ambassadors and serves as Vice President of the organization. He spent three decades as a career Foreign Service officer and was appointed Ambassador by President Ronald Reagan and President George Bush. After serving as Director for Africa for the U.S. Peace Corps, he retired in 1993.

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