The United States Institute of Peace wishes to acknowledge with appreciation the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for its support of this meeting, the first in a series of public lectures funded in part by the Hewlett Foundation.

At a peace conference in October 2003, warring factions in Liberia's 14-year civil war chose Gyude Bryant as interim leader of the National Transitional Government of Liberia. On February 9 (from 7:00-8:30 PM EST) the Institute hosted a special Virtual Town Hall Meeting featuring Gyude Bryant. During the interactive webcast Bryant engaged the Liberian diaspora in a web-based conversation about prospects for maintaining the peace in their war-weary homeland and what they can do to support it. USIP Africa specialist Michael Southwick and Harry Grieves, economic adviser to Chairman Bryant, moderated the event.

Speakers

• Gyude Bryant, Chairman, National Transitional Government of Liberia
  Chairman Charles Gyude Bryant is the newly designated leader of Liberia's two-year transitional government. Known as "a man with no enemies," he urged his predecessor Charles Taylor to talk to rebel groups. Widely seen as the most neutral of the candidates for Liberia's new leadership, Bryant is a successful Monrovia businessman and chairman of the Liberia Action Party.
• Michael Southwick, Moderator
  Africa Specialist, U.S. Institute of Peace; and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
• Harry Grieves, Moderator
  Economic adviser to Chairman Bryant