Zalmay Khalilzad | |
|---|---|
 Khalilzad in 2011 | |
| U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation | |
| In office September 21, 2018 – October 19, 2021 | |
| President | Donald Trump Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Thomas West[1] |
| 26thUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations | |
| In office April 30, 2007 – January 22, 2009 | |
| President | George W. Bush Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | John Bolton |
| Succeeded by | Susan Rice |
| United States Ambassador to Iraq | |
| In office June 21, 2005 – March 26, 2007 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | John Negroponte |
| Succeeded by | Ryan Crocker |
| 15thUnited States Ambassador to Afghanistan | |
| In office September 2, 2004 – June 20, 2005 | |
| President | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Robert Finn |
| Succeeded by | Ronald E. Neumann |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (1951-03-22)March 22, 1951 (age 74) |
| Spouse | Cheryl Benard |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | American University of Beirut(BA,MA) University of Chicago(PhD) |
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (born March 22, 1951) is an American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad was theU.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation from September 2018 to October 2021.[2] Khailzad was appointed by PresidentGeorge W. Bush to serve asUnited States ambassador to the United Nations, serving in the role from 2007 to 2009. Khalilzad was the highest rankingMuslim-American in government at the time he left the position.[3] He previously served in the Bush administration asambassador to Afghanistan from 2004 to 2005 andAmbassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.
Raised in the Afghan capital ofKabul, Khalilzad came to theUnited States as a high school exchange student, and later received his doctorate at theUniversity of Chicago. During theReagan Administration, Khalilzad served in the Department of State, where he advised on the U.S. response to theSoviet–Afghan War. Khalilzad later served as a counselor at theCenter for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and as president of Gryphon Partners and Khalilzad Associates, an international business consulting firm based inWashington, D.C.
Khalilzad was rumored to be a potential candidate in the2014 Afghan presidential election but ultimately declined to run.[4] In 2017, he was considered forsecretary of state by PresidentDonald Trump.[5] Khalilzad was appointed by Trump to serve as special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation on September 5, 2018, remaining in the position under PresidentJoe Biden until October 18, 2021.[6] In this position, Khalilzad helped broker theUS–Taliban deal and facilitating the finalUnited States withdrawal from Afghanistan.[7][8][9]
While his parents hail from theLaghman Province,[10] Khalilzad was born inMazar-i-Sharif,Afghanistan, and grew up in the country's capital,Kabul.[11] He is an ethnicPashtun from theNoorzai tribe.[12] Khalilzad began his education at the public Ghazi Lycée school inKabul.[13]
Khalilzad first spent time in theUnited States as a high schoolexchange student withAFS Intercultural Programs inCeres, California. Later, he attained his bachelor's and his master's degrees from theAmerican University of Beirut, inLebanon. Khalilzad received his doctorate at theUniversity of Chicago where he studied closely withAlbert Wohlstetter, a prominent nuclear deterrence thinker and strategist. Wohlstetter provided Khalilzad with contacts within the government andRAND.[14] Khalilzad has contributed at least 28 papers toRAND Corporation.[15]
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From 1979 to 1989, Khalilzad worked as an Assistant Professor of Political Science atColumbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.[16] During that time, he worked closely withZbigniew Brzezinski, theCarter administration's architect ofOperation Cyclone to support theAfghan mujahideen, who resisted theSoviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.[14]
In 1984, Khalilzad accepted a one-yearCouncil on Foreign Relations fellowship to join theUS State Department, where he was an adviser to theNear East andSouth Asia Bureau, headed byRichard W. Murphy.
From 1985 to 1989, Khalilzad served in theReagan administration, as a senior State Department official, advising on theSoviet–Afghan War, after the Soviet invasion. During that time, he was a member of thePolicy Planning Staff and the State Department's special adviser on Afghanistan to Undersecretary of StateMichael H. Armacost. In that role, he developed and guided the international program to promote the merits of a mujahideen-led Afghanistan ousting the Soviet occupation. From 1990 to 1992, Khalilzad served under PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush in theDefense Department, as deputy undersecretary for policy planning.[17]
Between 1993 and 2000, Khalilzad was the director of the strategy, doctrine, and force structure at the RAND Corporation.[16] During that time, he helped found RAND's Center for Middle Eastern Studies as well as "Strategic Appraisal," a RAND periodical. He also authored several influential monographs, including "The United States and a Rising China" and "From Containment to Global Leadership? America and the World After the Cold War." At RAND, he also had a brief stint in consulting forCambridge Energy Research Associates, which was conducting a risk analysis forUnocal, now part ofChevron, for a proposed 1400 km (890 mi), $2-billion, 622 m³/s (22,000 ft³/s)Trans-Afghanistan gas pipeline project, which would have extended fromTurkmenistan to Afghanistan and then proceeded toPakistan.
Khalilzad also wrote several articles on the subject of the value of U.S. global leadership in the mid-1990s. The specific scenarios for conflict that he envisioned if a decline in American power occurred have made his writings extremely popular in competitive high school and collegepolicy debate, particularly his writing that links the loss of US hegemony to global instability.[18] Khalilzad was a signatory of theletter from members of theProject for the New American Century to PresidentBill Clinton sent on January 26, 1998. It called for Clinton's help in "removingSaddam Hussein and his regime from power" by using "a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts."[19]
Khalilzad has been described as a "lifelongRepublican", though he did not supportDonald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.[20]
Khalilzad has sometimes been characterized as aneoconservative, with one profile inThe Guardian in 2006 characterizing him as "combin[ing] the commitment of an American neocon with the cultural sensitivity of his Islamic background."[21] At times, Khalilzad has embraced the label, authoring an article titled "The Neoconservative Case for Negotiating With Iran" inPolitico magazine in 2006.[22]
In 1995, Khalilzad articulated his views regarding the appropriate role of the United States in thePost-Cold War period:[23]
The United States should be willing to use force if necessary for this purpose. There are currently two regions whose control by a hostile power could pose a global challenge: East Asia and Europe. The Persian Gulf is critically important for a different reason—its oil resources are vital for the world economy. In the long term, the relative importance of various regions can change. A region that is critical to American interests now might become less important, while some other region might gain in importance."
Regarding U.S. military preeminence, Khalilzad argued in favor of maintaining a sufficiently strong military to be able to embark in "two major regional contingencies nearly simultaneously":[23]
For the foreseeable future, this means having the capability for fighting two major regional contingencies nearly simultaneously, e.g., Korea and the Gulf. The United States should also acquire increased capabilities for occasional intervention in lesser regional conflicts, such as humanitarian relief operations, and for countering weapons of mass destruction and ballistic and cruise missiles. For the longer term, it should consider moving toward sizing its forces to be able to defeat the plausible military challenges to critical American interests that might be posed by the two next most powerful military forces in the world—which are not allied with the United States.[23]
In June 2001, Khalilzad argued that the "United States must act now to weaken theTaliban and stem the spread ofTalibanism."[24] In a letter, Khalilzad endorsed the following policies to weaken the Taliban's control over Afghanistan:[19]
In June 2009, Khalilzad stated the following at aUC Berkeley event:[25]
I believe and I've told presidentKarzai few month ago, because he is talking a lot about reconciliation, which is conceptually anabsolute necessity, everywar must end, but circumstance must be created for that wish to be successful. I've told him [to] get your house in order first, get the corruption issue dealt with, getgovernance improved, get services improved, then people would say `ahaa ... i want to be on this side, it looks like it is a better side, the side that is producing resolve.' But if they see yourjudges are corrupt, and yourgovernors are not providing any services, initially people would think `why should I die for this, I'm going to become neutral`, or worse if the other side is providing more security, let's say, it [sic] will be even more difficult."[25]
In a published 1993 paper, he advocated for "trade sanctions" against North Korea, "enhancing U.S. and South Korean military readiness", and "direct military attacks".[26]
Use of force by a U.S.—allied coalition has better prospects for achieving the U.S. objective, either by setting back the program or by producing a more compliant North Korea—depending on how much and how effectively the force is applied. However, given the risk of triggering a second Korean war, it is unclear whether the South Koreans or Japanese could be induced to agree.
In 2001, PresidentGeorge W. Bush asked Khalilzad to head his transition team for the Department of Defense, and Khalilzad briefly served as counselor to Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld. In May 2001, national security adviserCondoleezza Rice announced Khalilzad's appointment as special assistant to the president and senior director for Southwest Asia, Near East, andNorth African affairs on theNational Security Council. In December 2002, Bush appointed Khalilzad to the position of ambassador at large for free Iraqis with the task of coordinating "preparations for a post-Saddam HusseinIraq."[27]
After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Bush came to rely on Khalilzad's Afghanistan expertise. Khalilzad was involved in the early stages of planning to overthrow theTaliban and on December 31, 2001, he was selected as Bush's special presidential envoy for Afghanistan. He served in that position until November 2003, when he was appointed to serve as US ambassador to Afghanistan. Khalilzad held that position from November 2003 until June 2005.[28]
During that time, he oversaw the drafting of theconstitution of Afghanistan, was involved with the country's first elections and helped to organize the first meeting of Afghanistan'sLoya Jirga (traditional grand assembly). At the June 2002 Loya Jirga to select the Head of State, representatives of the US convinced the former king of Afghanistan, 87-year-oldZahir Shah, to withdraw from consideration even though a majority of Loya Jirga delegates supported him. That move angered Pashtuns, who were concerned with the disproportionate power of theNorthern Alliance in the Karzai government.[29] During Khalilzad's tenure as ambassador, the new Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, consulted closely with him on a regular basis about political decisions, and the two dined together regularly.[30][31] In 2004 and 2005, he was also involved in helping with the establishment of theAmerican University of Afghanistan (AUAF), which is the first American-style higher learning educational institution in Afghanistan.[32] In 2016, the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan[33] presented him with the International Public Service Award.[citation needed]
Khalilzad began his job as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq on June 21, 2005. He was credited for helping negotiate compromises which allowed the ratification of theConstitution of Iraq in October 2005. Khalilzad also worked to ensure that theDecember 2005 elections ran smoothly and played a substantial role in forming the first post-Saddam government. Khalilzad also helped establish the American University of Iraq, inSulaimaniya, and sits on its board of regents.[34]
In comparison to his predecessors,Paul Bremer andJohn Negroponte, inBaghdad, Khalilzad was considered a success as an ambassador and credited with bringing a cultural sophistication and human touch to the job that helped connect with Iraqis.[35]
Khalilzad was one of the first high-level administration officials to warn that sectarian violence was overtaking the insurgency as the top threat to Iraq's stability. After theAl Askari Mosque bombing, in February 2006, he warned that spreading sectarian violence might lead to civil war and possibly to even a broader conflict, involving neighboring countries. Khalilzad sought political solutions to the problem of sectarianism, and in particular, he worked to integrate the balance of power between Iraq's three main ethnic groups to head off growing the growingSunni violence.[35]
Khalilzad's term as ambassador ended on March 26, 2007. He was replaced byRyan Crocker, a career diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.[36]
On February 12, 2007, the White House submitted Khalilzad's nomination to the Senate to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.[37] He was unanimously confirmed by the Democratic-controlledUS Senate on March 29, 2007.[38] That marked a strong contrast to Khalilzad's predecessor,John R. Bolton, whose often-controversial rhetoric caused him to fail to be confirmed by the Senate but obtained arecess appointment.[39]
Colleagues at the UN noted that Khalilzad has a different style from Bolton and was more conciliatory.[40]
In November 2007, Khalilzad charged thatIran was helping the insurgent groups in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also told the media, soon after theInternational Atomic Energy Agency's release of its report on Iran, that the Iranian government was clearly going ahead with itsnuclear program. Khalilzad explained that the US would try to pass another resolution in theSecurity Council, underChapter 7, to impose additionalsanctions against Iran.[41]
In August 2008, he urged the Security Council to "take urgent action" and to "condemnRussia's military assault on the sovereign state of Georgia".[42] He also stated thatRussian Foreign MinisterSergey Lavrov had told US Secretary of State Rice thatGeorgian PresidentMikheil Saakashvili "must go."[43]
From 2009 to 2018, Khalilzad served as the President of Khalilzad Associates, LLC, an "international advisory firm that serves clients at the nexus of commerce and public policies, helping global businesses navigate the most promising and challenging international markets."[44] Khalilzad Associates and its parent company, Gryphon Capital Partners, have, as clients, international and US companies that interested mainly in doing business in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to Khalilzad, they include companies in the sectors of energy, construction, education, and infrastructure.
Khalilzad served as a Counselor at theCenter for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) and sits on the Boards of theNational Endowment for Democracy (NED), America Abroad Media (AAM), the RAND Corporation's Middle East Studies Center, theAtlantic Council, the American University of Iraq in Suleymania (AUIS),The American University of Kurdistan (AUK), and theAmerican University of Afghanistan (AUAF).[45]
On September 9, 2014, a news items appeared in theAustrian media, stating that Khalilzad was being investigated by authorities in Austria for suspectedmoney laundering, and that his wife's accounts had been frozen.[46] On September 10, the Austrian court made known that the case had been dismissed and the accounts had been ordered unfrozen a week earlier, on September 3. The leak was the result of court documents having been discarded unshredded in the general trash, and then found by scavenging bloggers.[47]
In 2015, he donated over $100,000 to the Atlantic Council, a USthink tank.[48]
Khalilzad's political autobiography,The Envoy: From Kabul to the White House, My Journey Through a Turbulent World, was published by St. Martin's Press in 2016.[citation needed]
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In September 2018, Secretary of StateMike Pompeo named Khalilzad as the Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, a newly created envoy with the mission of securing a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Afghanistan. As of March 2021, he has continued in this role under the new administration ofJoe Biden.
On May 18, 2021, at a U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on U.S. policy in Afghanistan, Khalilzad downplayed the prospect of a swift Taliban takeover when U.S. forces leave saying, "If they [Taliban] pursue, in my judgment, a military victory, it will result in a long war, because Afghan security forces will fight, other Afghans will fight, neighbors will come to support different forces."
He later added at that same hearing, "I personally believe that the statements that the [Afghan] forces will disintegrate, and the Talibs will take over in short order are mistaken. The real choices that the Afghans will face is between a long war and negotiated settlement."[49][50] Despite this statement, the2021 Taliban offensive culminated in a swift Taliban takeover and the dissolution of theAfghan National Army.Ahmad Wali Massoud, a Taliban adversary who was also critical of the government of Afghanistan PresidentAshraf Ghani, accused Khalizad of playing a role in orchestrating the Taliban's return to power in an interview which was published inTRT World on September 21, 2021.[51] Massoud argued that the Taliban did not have the military capacity to retake Kabul without great assistance and also cast suspicion on growing U.S. efforts to use the Taliban to fight the terrorist groupISIS-K.[51]
In 2022,Politico reported that Khalilzad attended a dinner withRussian ambassador to the United StatesAnatoly Antonov amid theRussian invasion of Ukraine. Khalilzad reportedly stated "we need an agreement" to end the war in Ukraine, which Antonov was said to have agreed with.Dimitri Simes, president and CEO of the Center for the National Interest, also attended the dinner, where he pitched the idea of starting a new media outlet inMoscow, an idea Khalilzad said could be "very lucrative".[52]
Khalilzad's service in the government has been recognized by three different secretaries of defense:Robert Gates awarded Khalilzad the Department of Defense medal for outstanding public service for his service in Iraq.Donald Rumsfeld awarded Khalilzad the Department of Defense medal for outstanding public service for his work in Afghanistan.Dick Cheney awarded Khalilzad the Department of Defense medal for outstanding public service for his time as assistant deputy under secretary of defense for policy planning from 1991 to 1992.[53]
Khalilzad has also been awarded the highest national medals by the presidents ofAfghanistan, Georgia and Kosovo. In Afghanistan he was awarded the King Amanullah Medal in 2005. The Georgian president awarded Khalilzad the Order of the Golden Fleece in 2016. Kosovo's president awarded Khalilzad the Order of Independence in 2017.
Khalilzad is an ethnicPashtun.[54][55][56] Khalilzad's wife is author and political analystCheryl Benard. They met in 1972 while they were both students at theAmerican University of Beirut. They have two children.[citation needed]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Afghanistan 2003–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to Iraq 2005–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | United States Ambassador to the United Nations 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (1935–1948) |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (1948–1979) | ||
| Chargés d'affaires (1979–1989) | ||
The embassy was closed from January 30, 1989, to January 17, 2002; the liaison office reopened on December 17, 2001. | ||
| Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (2001–2021) |
| |
The embassy transferred operations to Qatar on August 31, 2021. | ||
| Chargés d'affaires (2021–present) | ||
 | | ||
Italics indicates acting | |||
