Karl Eikenberry | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Afghanistan | |
In office May 21, 2009 –July 19, 2011 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | William Braucher Wood |
Succeeded by | Ryan Crocker |
Personal details | |
Born | Karl Winfrid Eikenberry November 10,1951 Hammond,Indiana,U.S. |
Spouse | Ching Eikenberry |
Education | United States Military Academy (BS) Harvard University (MA) Stanford University (MA) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1974–2009 [1] |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Battles/wars | War in Afghanistan |
Karl Winfrid Eikenberry (born November 10,1951) [2] is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from April 2009 to July 2011. From 2011 to 2019,he was the Director of the U.S. Asia Security Initiative at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and a Stanford University professor of the practice;a member of the Core Faculty at the Center for International Security and Cooperation;and an affiliated faculty member at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies,Center on Democracy,Development and the Rule of Law,and The Europe Center. [3] [4]
Eikenberry is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences where he co-directs the Academy's multiyear project on civil wars,violence,and international responses,and a member of the Academy's Committee of International Security Studies. He serves on the board of The Asia Foundation,American Councils for International Education,the Asia Society of Northern California,Academic Exchange,and the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. He is a faculty member of Schwarzman College,Tsinghua University in Beijing, [5] and a member of the Working Group on Science and Technology and U.S.-China Relations organized by the UC San Diego 21st Century China Center and the Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. Additionally,Eikenberry is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations,the American Academy of Diplomacy,and the International Institute for Strategic Studies. [6]
Eikenberry was born in 1951 in Hammond,Indiana and graduated from Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro,North Carolina,in 1969. [7] He then attended the United States Military Academy at West Point,where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation in 1973. [8]
He received an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Harvard University,where he would later return as a National Security Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He also earned an M.A. in political science from Stanford University. [9] In addition,Eikenberry has studied in Hong Kong at the UK Ministry of Defence Chinese Language School,earning the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Interpreter's Certificate for Mandarin Chinese,and at Nanjing University,earning an advanced degree in Chinese history. [10]
In the Army,Eikenberry commanded and held staff positions in airborne,ranger,and mechanized infantry units in the United States,Korea,and Europe. He also served as Assistant Army Attachéand later as the Defense Attaché in the United States Embassy in Beijing,People's Republic of China. His other political-military assignments included Senior Country Director for China and Taiwan in the Office of Secretary of Defense,Foreign Area Officer Division Chief and Deputy Director of the Strategy,Plans and Policy Directorate on the Army Staff, [11] and Director of Strategic Planning and Policy Directorate,United States Pacific Command,Camp Smith,Hawaii. Eikenberry served two tours of duty in the war in Afghanistan. [12]
His first tour in Afghanistan,from September 2002 to September 2003,he filled two positions—his primary duty was as the U.S. Security Coordinator for Afghanistan and the second position was the Chief of the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan (OMC-A). As the Security Coordinator,he worked closely with Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Pakistan Lakhdar Brahimi to forge a unified international effort to build a cohesive security sector. Security sector reform (SSR) followed a lead-nation approach agreed upon in January 2002,in which the G8 nations would each lead a specific sector—the United States was responsible for the Afghan National Army;Germany,the Afghan Police;UK,counter-narcotics;Italy,judicial reform;and Japan and the United Nations took on the task of disarming,demobilizing,and reintegrating the militias. [13]
Eikenberry succeeded Lieutenant General David Barno as Commander,Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan,on May 4,2005. [14]
During his second tour from May 2005 to February 2007,he was responsible for transferring operational responsibility for southern and eastern Afghanistan to the NATO International Security Assistance Force and the international training of the Afghan National Army and Police Forces. He also commanded the military task force sent to Pakistan to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the wake of the October 8th,2005 Kashmir earthquake. He completed his military career in Brussels,Belgium as the Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. [10]
On January 29,2009,the New York Times reported that President Barack Obama had chosen Eikenberry to be the next U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan,replacing William Braucher Wood. The choice of a career army officer for the sensitive post was described by The Times as "highly unusual". On April 3,2009,the Senate confirmed Eikenberry's nomination,and on April 29,2009,he was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. [12] The official announcement of his nomination was made on March 11. [15] Following his confirmation as ambassador,he retired from the U.S. military with the rank of Lieutenant General on April 28,2009. As the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan,he led the civilian surge directed by President Obama,overseeing the growth of the embassy staff from 350 to 1,400 civilian personnel from eighteen United States Government departments and agencies,and the administration of bilateral development assistance budget of over $4 billion USD annually.
In November 2009,Eikenberry sent two classified cables to his superiors in which he assessed the proposed U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. A description of the content of the cables was leaked soon after. In January 2010,the New York Times obtained and published the cables, [16] which "show just how strongly the current ambassador feels about President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan government,the state of its military,and the chances that a troop buildup will actually hurt the war effort by making the Karzai government too dependent on the United States". [17] In June 2010,General McChrystal was described in a Rolling Stone profile as feeling blindsided by Eikenberry's statements in the leaked cables. On the other hand,Eikenberry is described elsewhere as being frank and vocal about his concerns about the Karzai government as being an unreliable partner for the United States in its efforts in Afghanistan. [18]
In September 2011 Eikenberry became the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University [19] and subsequently the William J. Perry Fellow in International Security at the Center for International Security and Cooperation. While at Stanford University,Eikenberry joined the faculty of the Ford Dorsey Program in International Policy Studies,served as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences congressionally mandated Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences,acted as a consultant for NATO and the RAND Corporation,and lectured and written on civil-military relations,U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy and Sino American relations,counter-insurgency and state-building strategies,and the contribution of the arts and humanities to America's international competitiveness.[ citation needed ] He was elected to be a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012. [20]
Eikenberry's personal decorations include: [10]
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters Degree, North Carolina State University [22]
Honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree, Ball State University [23]
Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters Degree, University of San Francisco [24]
George F. Kennan Award for Distinguished Public Service
State of North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award [25]
Goldsboro High School Athletic Hall of Fame [26]
In August 2007 Eikenberry was given the key to the city of Goldsboro, North Carolina by the mayor. [27]
In November 2018, Eikenberry was the Keynote Speaker at the Stanford Model United Nations Conference.
The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the Foreign Policy Agenda of the Department of State, are "to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community". Liberalism has been a key component of US foreign policy since its independence from Britain. Since the end of World War II, the United States has had a grand strategy which has been characterized as being oriented around primacy, "deep engagement", and/or liberal hegemony. This strategy entails that the United States maintains military predominance; builds and maintains an extensive network of allies ; integrates other states into US-designed international institutions ; and limits the spread of nuclear weapons.
The Atlantic Council is an American think tank in the field of international affairs, favoring Atlanticism, founded in 1961. It manages sixteen regional centers and functional programs related to international security and global economic prosperity. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is a member of the Atlantic Treaty Association.
The main event by far shaping the foreign policy of the United States during the presidency of George W. Bush (2001–2009) was the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, and the subsequent war on terror. There was massive domestic and international support for destroying the attackers. With UN approval, US and NATO forces quickly invaded the attackers' base in Afghanistan and drove them out and the Taliban government that harbored them. It was the start of a 20-year quagmire that finally ended in failure with the withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan.
Susan Elizabeth Rice is an American diplomat, policy advisor, and public official. A member of the Democratic Party, Rice served as the 22nd Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council from 2021 to 2023, as the 27th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2009 to 2013, and as the 23rd U.S. National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2017.
Opposition to the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) stemmed from numerous factors, including the view that the United States invasion of Afghanistan was illegal under international law and constituted an unjustified aggression, the view that the continued military presence constituted a foreign military occupation, the view that the war did little to prevent terrorism but increased its likelihood, and views on the involvement of geo-political and corporate interests. Also giving rise to opposition to the war were civilian casualties, the cost to taxpayers, and the length of the war to date.
Alexander Russell "Sandy" Vershbow is an American diplomat and former Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
William Joseph Burns is an American diplomat who has served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the Biden administration since March 19, 2021. He previously served as U.S. deputy secretary of state from 2011 to 2014; in 2009 he served as acting secretary of state for a day, prior to the confirmation of Hillary Clinton. Burns retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a 32-year career. From 2014 to 2021, he served as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Russia and the United States maintain one of the most important, critical and strategic foreign relations in the world. Both nations have shared interests in nuclear safety and security, nonproliferation, counterterrorism, and space exploration. Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, relations became very tense after the United States imposed sanctions against Russia. Russia placed the United States on a list of "unfriendly countries", along with Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, European Union members, NATO members, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Micronesia and Ukraine.
The Republic of Turkey (Türkiye) and the United States of America established diplomatic relations in 1927. Relations after World War II evolved from the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943 and Turkey's entrance into World War II on the side of the Allies in February 1945. Later that year, Turkey became a charter member of the United Nations. Both countries advanced ties under the Turkey in NATO, G20, OECD, Council of Europe, OSCE, WTO, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, IMF, the World Bank.
Relations between Afghanistan and the United States began in 1921 under the leaderships of King Amanullah Khan and President Warren G. Harding, respectively. The first contact between the two nations occurred further back in the 1830s when the first recorded person from the United States explored Afghanistan. The United States government foreign aid program provided about $500 million in aid for economic development; the aid ended before the 1978 Saur Revolution. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was a turning point in the Cold War, when the United States started to financially support the Afghan resistance. The country, under both the Carter and Reagan administrations committed $3 billion dollars in financial and diplomatic support to the anti-Soviet Mujahideen forces. Beginning in 1980, the United States began admitting thousands of Afghan refugees for resettlement, and provided money and weapons to the Mujahideen through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The USSR withdrew its troops in 1989.
Pakistan and the United States established relations on 15 August 1947, a day after the independence of Pakistan, when the United States became one of the first nations to recognize Pakistan.
Sir Sherard Louis Cowper-Coles is a British former diplomat. He was the Foreign Secretary's Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009–2010. After leaving the Foreign Office, he worked briefly for BAE Systems as international business development director. He left BAE Systems in 2013 and is now a senior adviser to the group chairman and the group chief executive of HSBC. He is also president of the Jane Austen Society.
Ivo H. Daalder, is President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and has served since July, 2013. He was the U.S. Permanent Representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from May 2009 to July 2013. He was a member of the staff of United States National Security Council (NSC) during the administration of President Bill Clinton, and was one of the foreign policy advisers to President Barack Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign.
The United States has maintained an official presence in Slovenia since the early 1970s, when the United States Information Agency (USIS) opened a library and American press and cultural center in Ljubljana. From its opening through 1992, the American Center worked to develop closer grassroots relations between the United States and the people of the then-Socialist Republic of Slovenia, a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On December 23, 1990, the Slovene people voted in a plebiscite to separate from greater Yugoslavia. On June 25, 1991, the new Republic of Slovenia officially declared its independence from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A 10-day war commenced, during which Slovenian territorial troops fought off incursions by the Yugoslav People's Army. The United States formally recognized the new republic on April 7, 1992. To develop U.S. diplomatic relations with the new state, the United States opened a new Embassy in Ljubljana in August 1992. From the departure of Yousif Ghafari in January 2009 till November 2010, the U.S. Ambassador position was vacant. From November 2010 to 2015 it was held by Joseph A. Mussomeli. The Ambassador position is currently held by Jamie Harpootlian.
The term Obama Doctrine is frequently used to describe the principles of US foreign policy under the Obama administration (2009–2017). He relied chiefly on his two highly experienced Secretaries of State—Hillary Clinton (2009–2013) and John Kerry (2013–2017)—and Vice President Joe Biden. Main themes include a reliance on negotiation and collaboration rather than confrontation or unilateralism.
Hugo Llorens is a retired American diplomat. He is a former U.S. Special Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, (2016–17) and United States Ambassador to Honduras (2008–2011). In his 36-year career he was posted to numerous countries spanning 6 continents. In 2002–2003, he joined the White House staff and served as Director of Andean Affairs advising the President and National Security Advisor on issues pertaining to Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador.
Earl Anthony Wayne is an American diplomat. Formerly Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, Ambassador to Argentina and Deputy Ambassador to Afghanistan, Wayne served nearly four years as Ambassador to Mexico. He was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate in August, 2011. He departed Mexico City for Washington July 31, 2015 and retired from the State Department on September 30, 2015. Wayne attained the highest rank in the U.S. diplomatic service: Career Ambassador. He is currently a Professorial Lecturer and Distinguished Diplomat in Residence at American University's School of International Service where he teaches courses related to diplomacy and US foreign policy. Wayne also works with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Atlantic Council, the Center for Strategic and International Studies,. Wayne is co-chair of the Mexico Institute's Advisory Board at the Wilson Center. He is also on the board of the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Public Diplomacy Council of America. Wayne is an independent consultant, speaker and writer and works with several not-for-profit professional associations. He was an adviser for HSBC Latin America on improving management of financial crime risk from 2015 until 2019 and served on the board of the American Foreign Service Association from 2017 to 2019.
For purposes of U.S. foreign policy, South Asia consists of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs was Nisha Desai Biswal.
The withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan describes the drawdown of United States Armed Forces in the Afghanistan war and the plans after its post-2014 presence when most combat troops had left Afghanistan at the end of 2014.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)