Brian H. Hook (born 1968) is an American diplomat,lawyer and government official. In 2021,he joined Cerberus Capital Management as vice chairman for global investments. He is an adjunct professor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy.[1]
He served as U.S. Special Representative for Iran and Senior Policy Advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from September 2018 to August 2020. He was the Director of Policy Planning under Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.[2]
After the Bush administration,Hook founded Latitude,LLC,an international consulting firm based in Washington,DC. He serves on the advisory board of Beacon Global Strategies.[4]
Hook worked on the 2012 Romney campaign staff as senior advisor on foreign policy. He chaired the foreign policy and national security task forces of the Romney Readiness Project. He was the foreign policy director of Governor Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign from 2010 to 2011.[citation needed]
In 2013,he co-founded the John Hay Initiative,[5] an anti-isolationist group intended to inform political leaders about foreign policy.
In early 2017,Hook was appointed director of the Office of Policy Planning in the State Department by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the Secretary's chief foreign policy adviser.[2]
In response to a comment by Tillerson about human rights,Hook sent Tillerson a memo stating that "Allies should be treated differently—and better—than adversaries. Otherwise,we end up with more adversaries,and fewer allies".[6]
Hook briefed Tillerson on and promoted the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy,an approach by Japan and the U.S. to expand their Asia strategies to include India and the Persian Gulf,within the Trump administration.[7]
In 2018 Pompeo set up the Iran Action Group to coordinate and run U.S. policy toward Iran with Hook as its head.[8]
Hook spent months traveling between the US and Europe in an effort to negotiate an enhanced Iran nuclear agreement with European leaders. Hook also negotiated the release of two Iranian hostages,Xiyue Wang and Michael White.[2]
In November 2019,Hook was the subject of controversy when an internal State Department report claimed he mishandled an employment issue with department official Sahar Nowrouzzadeh. Nowrouzzadeh had been the subject of a 2017 article in the Conservative Review which falsely claimed she was born in Iran and made disparaging remarks against her. The article was reportedly passed around the State Department,including to President Trump. Nowrouzzadeh reported the issue to Hook,but the internal report stated he did not take proper action.[11][12] The author of the internal report was later fired.[13]
Hook was a member of Trump's “Peace to Prosperity”plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hook accompanied the US Middle East envoy to focus on the economic and political components of the plan. This transpired into the Abraham Accords that were signed in 2020.[14]
U.S. Special Representative Brian Hook stands next to freed U.S. prisoner Xiyue Wang,who had been held in Iran for 3 years.
After leaving the Trump administration,Hook joined Cerberus Capital Management as vice chairman of the alternative investment firm's international arm. Hook has also worked for Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and U.S. Congressman Jim Leach.[16]
Hook was appointed by President Trump to the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson International Center at the Smithsonian Institution.[17] Hook serves on the board of trustees for Saint John's Seminary in Boston and the board of directors for the National Civic Art Society in Washington,DC.[18]
Abraham Accords/Middle East Peace Process
Hook planned the Ministerial to Promote Peace and Security in the Middle East,a conference held in Warsaw,Poland,in February 2019. The summit was attended by foreign ministers and diplomats from 60 countries.[19]
Hook coordinated secret talks between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to coordinate military and intelligence sharing against Iranian threats.[20]
Elliott Abrams is an American politician and lawyer,who has served in foreign policy positions for presidents Ronald Reagan,George W. Bush,and Donald Trump. Abrams is considered to be a neoconservative. He was a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as the U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela from 2019 to 2021 and as the U.S. Special Representative for Iran from 2020 to 2021.
Robert Kagan is an American historian. He is a neoconservative scholar. He is a critic of U.S. foreign policy and a leading advocate of liberal internationalism.
John Robert Bolton is an American attorney,diplomat,Republican consultant,and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006,and as the 26th United States National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019.
Rex Wayne Tillerson is an American energy executive who served as the 69th United States secretary of state from 2017 to 2018 in the first administration of Donald Trump. From 2006 to 2016,he was chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of ExxonMobil.
Thomas Alfred Shannon Jr. is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2016 to 2018. In early 2017,Shannon served as acting United States Secretary of State until President Donald Trump's nominee,Rex Tillerson,was confirmed. He was also acting Deputy Secretary of State of the United States until the Senate confirmed President Trump's nominee,John J. Sullivan.
Heather Anne Nauert is an American broadcast journalist and former government official who served as Spokesperson for the United States Department of State in the Donald Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. Nauert also served as Acting Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from March 2018 to April 2019.
Robert Charles O'Brien Jr. is an American attorney who served as the twenty-seventh United States national security advisor from 2019 to 2021. He was the fourth and final person to hold the position during the presidency of Donald Trump. He is currently the chairman of the American Global Strategies firm advising companies on international politics,the U.S. government,and crisis management.
The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism is an office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security,Democracy,and Human Rights at the United States Department of State. The office "advances U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism" by developing and implementing policies and projects to support efforts to combat antisemitism.
Michael Richard Pompeo is an American politician who served in the administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United States secretary of state from 2018 to 2021. He also served in the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017.
John Joseph Sullivan is an American attorney and government official who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2020 to 2022,and who previously served as the 19th United States Deputy Secretary of State from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party,Sullivan served as Acting United States Secretary of State from April 1,2018,to April 26,2018,following President Donald Trump's dismissal of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 13,2018,until Tillerson's official successor,Mike Pompeo,was sworn in. Tillerson did not officially leave office until March 31,2018. Sullivan,however,was delegated all responsibilities of the Secretary of State beginning March 13.
Mary Elizabeth Kissel is former Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Previously,she was a member of TheWall Street Journal editorial board in New York City,and editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal Asia,based in Hong Kong. She is currently Executive Vice President and Senior Policy Advisor at Stephens Inc.
Brett H. McGurk is an American diplomat,attorney,and academic who served in senior national security positions under presidents George W. Bush,Barack Obama,and Donald Trump. He currently serves as deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa.
Kiron Kanina Skinner is an American academic and former government official. She was Director of Policy Planning at the United States Department of State in the first Trump administration. Skinner is presently the Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy,where she teaches graduate courses in national security and public leadership. Prior to that,she was the Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at Carnegie Mellon University,and the founding director of the Institute for Politics and Strategy and associated centers at the university. She is also the W. Glenn Campbell Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. After leaving the Department of State,she returned to her position at Carnegie Mellon University until stepping down in 2021.
Donald Trump assumed office as president of the United States on January 20,2017,and his first term ended on January 20,2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
U.S. foreign policy during the presidency of Donald Trump (2017–2021) was noted for its unpredictability and reneging on prior international commitments,upending diplomatic conventions,embracing political and economic brinkmanship with most adversaries,and stronger relations with traditional allies. Trump's "America First" policy pursued nationalist foreign policy objectives and prioritized bilateral relations over multinational agreements. As president,Trump described himself as a nationalist while espousing views that have been characterized as isolationist,non-interventionist,and protectionist,although the "isolationist" label has been disputed,including by Trump himself,and periods of his political career have been described by the alternative term "semi-isolationist." He personally praised some populist,neo-nationalist,illiberal,and authoritarian governments,while antagonizing others,even as administration diplomats nominally continued to pursue pro-democracy ideals abroad.
The Iran Action Group was formed on Thursday,16 August 2018 by United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a dedicated group to coordinate and run U.S. policy toward Iran. Establishment of the group followed the United States withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,the nuclear accord with Iran.
Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl is a Swiss-American businessman and former government official,having held the position of Counselor of the United States Department of State from May 1,2018,to January 20,2021. He was appointed by and reported to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,and replaced Maliz E. Beams. Along with the role of Counselor,he served as the Acting Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the Department of State from March to September 2020.
In April 2021,more than three hours of audiotape was leaked from a seven-hour interview between economist Saeed Leylaz and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The taped conversation was connected to an oral history project,titled "In the Islamic Republic,the military field rules," that documents the work of then-president Hassan Rouhani and his government. The tape was obtained by the London-based news channel Iran International and publicized by The New York Times. Zarif did not dispute the authenticity of the leaked tape,but questioned the motive. Iran International noted that Zarif's claim was "not very credible."
Jamie M. Fly is an American media executive and former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
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