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Robert Geers Loftis (born 1956) [1] is a career member of the United States Foreign Service, former United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho, and former Acting Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization at the United States Department of State.
In 2013, Loftis joined Boston University as a professor of international relations.
Loftis is the Acting Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, leading the development of the U.S. government civilian capacity to promote conflict prevention, peacebuilding and stabilization efforts in countries on the brink of, in, or emerging from crisis. The Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the Civilian Response Corps, with Active and Standby components spanning eight federal government agencies. The Corps is the U.S. civilian surge capability for conflict prevention and stabilization operations overseas. [2]
Loftis' previous position as a member of the Foreign Service was as the State Department's Special Representative for Avian and Pandemic Influenza from March 2009 to August 2010. At this post, Loftis led the Department of State's efforts to prevent avian influenza virus. [3]
Loftis was the Deputy Commandant and Senior Advisor for International Affairs of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at National Defense University, where he also taught strategic leadership.
Loftis was the Senior Advisor for Security Negotiations and Agreements in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs in the Department of State from August 2004 to July 2007. His primary responsibilities were to negotiate status of forces and base access agreements for the deployment of United States forces abroad, as well to negotiate burden-sharing agreements with allies and partners. In early 2008, he led the initial negotiations for a status of forces agreement with Iraq. He was also the Deputy Executive Director of the Implementation Planning Team for the creation of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). [4]
In June 2006, Loftis and Foreign Minister Alikbek Jekshenkulov led a delegation to negotiate the terms of a U.S. military air base in Kyrgyzstan. Loftis took part in a round of talks to ensure U.S. interests in the Manas Air Base, a base that has strategic value due to the closure of the Khanabad air base in neighboring Uzbekistan which was forced to vacate in 2005. The negotiations were a result of the Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev, who requested further monetary compensation for land rights. The request by the Kyrgyz president was made in February 2006 for the sum of $207 million a year. [5]
Loftis negotiated renewable ten year agreements for U.S. military bases in Romania and Bulgaria which were signed in 2005 and early 2006. The negotiations and agreements were between Romania, Bulgaria and America. The negotiations concluded in troop allotments of up to 2,500 troops at any one time with a maximum of 5,000 troops allowable at both bases for a 90-day period. [6]
From September 2001 to July 2004, Loftis was United States Ambassador to Lesotho, where he focused on the promotion of democratic institutions, economic and trade development, and the fight against HIV/AIDS. [7] His work on the May 2002 Lesotho general election encouraged democratic trends in southern Africa, developed a South African led voting system and established precedent for a fair election. The election was a first since the last national election in 1998 caused rioting and claims of vote rigging. [8]
Previous overseas assignments include Deputy Chief of Mission in Maputo, Mozambique, Political Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand, Political/Economic Officer in Brasília, Brazil, and General Services Officer in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. Domestic assignments included Deputy Director of the Office of Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Operations, Action Officer in the Office of Strategic and Theater Policy, Country Officer for Burma and staff assistant in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. Loftis joined the Foreign Service in May 1980. He speaks Portuguese and French and has received several State Department Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award. He earned his B.A. in political science with distinction and honors from Colorado State University. [9]
The Bulgarian Army is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in the hands of the Defense Staff, headed by the Chief of the Defense. There are three main branches of the Bulgarian military, named literally the Land Forces, the Air Forces and the Naval Forces.
A status of forces agreement (SOFA) is an agreement between a host country and a foreign nation stationing military forces in that country. SOFAs are often included, along with other types of military agreements, as part of a comprehensive security arrangement. A SOFA does not constitute a security arrangement; it establishes the rights and privileges of foreign personnel present in a host country in support of the larger security arrangement. Under international law a status of forces agreement differs from military occupation.
The original Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was negotiated and concluded during the last years of the Cold War and established comprehensive limits on key categories of conventional military equipment in Europe and mandated the destruction of excess weaponry. The treaty proposed equal limits for the two "groups of states-parties", the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact. In 2007, Russia "suspended" its participation in the treaty, and on 10 March 2015, citing NATO's alleged de facto breach of the Treaty, Russia formally announced it was "completely" halting its participation in it as of the next day.
The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003). At its peak it consisted of up to 15,000 U.N. military personnel and 1,115 police officers, along with civilian political advisors and aid workers.
The Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM) is an agency within the United States Department of State that bridges the Department of State with the Department of Defense. It provides policy in the areas of international security, security assistance, military operations, defense strategy and policy, military use of space, and defense trade. It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs.
John Edward Herbst is a retired American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2000 to 2003 and United States Ambassador to Ukraine from September 2003 to May 2006.
Bulgarian–American Joint Military Facilities were established by a Defence Cooperation Agreement signed by the United States and Bulgaria in April 2006. Under the agreement, U.S. forces will train at these bases, which remain under Bulgarian command and under the Bulgarian flag.
George Lee Butler, sometimes known as Lee Butler, is an American retired military officer. He was commander in chief, United States Strategic Command, and the last commander of Strategic Air Command. Following his retirement from the military he became active in the nuclear disarmament movement, calling for the outright abolition of nuclear weapons.
John Ross Beyrle is an American diplomat. A career Foreign Service Officer and specialist in Russian and Eastern European affairs, he served as Ambassador of the United States to the Russian Federation from July 3, 2008, until January 10, 2012, and as Ambassador to Bulgaria from 2005 to 2008.
The military modernization program of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) which began in the late 1970s had three major focuses. First, under the political leadership of 3rd paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, the military became disengaged from civilian politics and, for the most part, resumed the political quiescence that characterized its pre-Cultural Revolution role. Deng reestablished civilian control over the military by appointing his supporters to key military leadership positions, by reducing the scope of the PLA's domestic non-military role, and by revitalizing the party political structure and ideological control system within the PLA.
Kyrgyzstan – United States relations are bilateral relations between Kyrgyzstan and the United States.
The Civilian Response Corps is a program of the United States Department of State, Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS). The Civilian Response Corps is a group of federal employees and volunteers from the private sector, state and local governments who are trained to deploy rapidly in countries that are in crisis or emerging from conflict in order to provide reconstruction and stabilization assistance.
The U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement was a status of forces agreement (SOFA) between Iraq and the United States, signed by President George W. Bush in 2008. It established that U.S. combat forces would withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and all U.S. combat forces will be completely out of Iraq by December 31, 2011. The pact required criminal charges for holding prisoners over 24 hours, and required a warrant for searches of homes and buildings that were not related to combat. U.S. contractors working for U.S. forces would have been subject to Iraqi criminal law, while contractors working for the State Department and other U.S. agencies would retain their immunity. If U.S. forces committed still undecided "major premeditated felonies" while off-duty and off-base, they would have been subjected to an undecided procedures laid out by a joint U.S.-Iraq committee if the U.S. certified the forces were off-duty.
The modern history of Honduras is replete with large-scale disappearances of left-leaning union members, students and others. The legislature approved a new constitution in 1982, and the Liberal Party government of President Roberto Suazo Córdova took office. Suazo relied on United States support — including controversial social and economic development projects sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development — during a severe economic recession. According to the US State Department, "Honduras became host to the largest Peace Corps mission in the world, and non-governmental and international voluntary agencies proliferated."
James William Pardew Jr. was an American diplomat, international negotiator, military officer, and United States Ambassador to Bulgaria. After serving as a military intelligence officer in the United States Army for 28 years, Pardew entered the arena of international diplomacy with a heavy focus on the Balkans, where he was instrumental in coordinating agreements and peace resolutions, as well as heading major State Department programs such as the Bosnian Train-and-equip program.
On 12 April 2012, a coup d'état in Guinea-Bissau was staged by elements of the armed forces about two weeks before the second round of a presidential election between Carlos Gomes Júnior and Kumba Ialá. The coup started in the evening with military personnel and equipment making its way onto the streets, followed by the state-owned media being taken off-air.
The U.S.–Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement (SASPA), officially titled Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United States of America, was an agreement between the former government of Afghanistan and the United States of America that provides the long-term framework for the relationship between Afghanistan and the United States of America after the drawdown of U.S. forces in the Afghanistan war. SASPA went into effect on 4 July 2012, as stated by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said on 8 July 2012, at the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan: "Like a number of countries represented here, the United States and Afghanistan signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement that went into effect four days ago." SASPA was broadened by the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that both countries were obliged to negotiate within one year, which resulted on 30 September 2014 in the "Security and defense cooperation agreement between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United States of America" (SADCA).
John Francis Kirby is a retired rear admiral in the United States Navy serving as Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council in the White House since late May 2022. He previously served as Pentagon Press Secretary for the first year and a half of the Biden Administration, and worked as a military and diplomatic analyst for CNN from 2017 to 2021. He served in the Obama administration as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State from 2015 to 2017.
Atul Keshap is an American diplomat and career United States Foreign Service Officer from Virginia who recently served as the Chargé d'affaires of the United States mission to India. He formerly served as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the United States Department of State. In January, 2022, he was appointed as the president of U.S.-India Business Council. In 2022, Ambassador Keshap was elected into membership of the American Academy of Diplomacy. In May 2023, Keshap was named one of Washington's most influential foreign policy influencers for his work to shape U.S. relations with India.
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