Harold Boies Hoskins (1895-1977) was an American businessman, diplomat and expert on the Middle East.George Dugan
Harold Hoskins dies; expert on Mideast
'' New York Times'', 25 April 1977.

Life

Harold Hoskins was born in Beirut, the son of American missionaries to Syria (at the time Syria was a province of the Ottoman Empire, and the term included all modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and some small areas that are currently within the boundaries of Turkey). He graduated from the Hill School in 1913 and from Princeton University in 1917. During World War I he served as an officer in the

5th Marine Regiment The 5th Marine Regiment (also referred to as "5th Marines") is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the most highly decorated regiment in the Marine Corps and falls u ...

, and was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

with palm. A textile executive, Hopkins joined the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

during World War II. A friend of both Franklin D. Roosevelt and

Sumner Welles Benjamin Sumner Welles (October 14, 1892September 24, 1961) was an American government official and diplomat in the Foreign Service. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State ...

, Hopkins was sent to Cairo in 1942 to appraise the situation in the Middle East. His April 1943 report advocated "no final decisions" on

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

until after the war had ended. His longer-term recommendation was for a bi-national Arab-Jewish state, within the context of a wider Levant Federation. Hopkins was a consultant for

Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

in the 1940s, and a contract employee of the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

in the early 1950s. From 1955 to 1961 he was Director of the

Foreign Service Institute The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the United States federal government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats as well as other professionals to advance U.S. foreig ...

. He was also chairman of the board of trustees of the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

. His papers are held at Princeton University.Harold B. Hoskins Papers
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoskins, Harold 1895 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American diplomats People of the Office of Strategic Services American expatriates in the Ottoman Empire United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) People from Beirut