Robert Pastor
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Robert Alan Pastor (April 10, 1947 – January 8, 2014) was a member of the
National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...
staff and a writer on foreign affairs.


Education

Pastor earned his bachelor's degree in history from
Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
and a Masters of Public Administration and Policy (MPA), with a concentration in International Economics from the
John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. He also holds a PhD from Harvard in the field of political science. He served in the US
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...
in
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
where he learned
Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...
/
Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...
. He also was a
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
Professor at
El Colegio de México El Colegio de México, A.C. (commonly known as Colmex, English: The College of Mexico) is a Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in social sciences and humanities. The college was founded in 1940 by the Mex ...
in Mexico where he taught courses on
U.S. Foreign Policy 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 ...
.


Personal life

Pastor was married to the former Margaret McNamara, daughter of former Secretary of Defense
Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the Lis ...
, with whom he had two children. He lived in Washington, D.C. He died of
colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...
in 2014.


Work history

Pastor was a member of the National Security Council Staff with a portfolio that included Latin America and the Caribbean during the administration of President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
from 1977 to 1981. Pastor was nominated by President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
in 1994 to serve as the Ambassador to Panama. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved his nomination by a vote of 16–3, but Senator
Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...
prevented the full Senate from voting. After the Republicans won control of the Senate in November 1994, Helms became Chairman of the committee and refused to permit a vote on Pastor, who then requested for Clinton to withdraw his nomination. The main reason that Helms opposed the nomination was that he held Pastor accountable for negotiating the
Panama Canal Treaties Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
. He served as a Senior Fellow at the
Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidenti ...
, where he established the programs on Latin America and the Caribbean, democracy and election-monitoring, and Chinese village elections. He was also Goodrich C. White Professor of Political Science at
Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
. Pastor was Vice President of International Affairs at
American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
in Washington, D.C. from September 2002-December 2007. There, he helped establish the
American University of Nigeria American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
, transformed and expanded the study abroad program and introduced the "Abroad at AU" program, bringing students from around the world to study for a semester or year at AU. He also founded and headed the university's Center for Democracy and Election Management, and the Center for North American Studies and was executive director of the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform. In 2003, Pastor was elected to the
Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...
National Governing Board. Pastor was Vice Chair of the
Independent Task Force on the Future of North America The Independent Task Force on the Future of North America advocates a greater economic and social integration between Canada, Mexico, and the United States as a region. It is a group of prominent business, political and academic leaders from the ...
, sponsored by the
Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...
in association with the
Mexican Council on Foreign Relations The Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (COMEXI; es, Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales, links=no) was established the November 22, 2001. So far, it is the only plural and multidisciplinary forum, focused in the debate and analysis of M ...
(''Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales'') and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.


North American Community

Pastor's advocacy of
North American integration North American integration is the process of economic and political integration in North America, particularly integration of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. History North American Accord and free trade While Ronald Reagan was organiz ...
has been the subject of heated controversy, with criticisms from the left and the right. Pastor proposed a North American Community, "whose premise is that all three sovereign countries benefit when each of the countries makes progress, and all suffer when one fails". Pastor is featured in the 2010 Canadian documentary film ''
Water On The Table ''Water on the Table'' is a Canadian documentary film directed, produced and written by filmmaker Liz Marshall. The film explores Canada's relationship to its freshwater resources and features Canadian activist Maude Barlow in her pursuit to protec ...
'', in which he refers to the
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
(NAFTA) and debates
water rights Water right in water law refers to the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious ...
issues.


Published works

He is well-published on US foreign policy, having written or edited 17 books, including "The North American Idea: A Vision of a Continental Future,"''Exiting the Whirlpool: US Foreign Policy Toward Latin America and the Caribbean'', ''Democracy in the Caribbean: Political, Economic and Social Perspectives'' and ''Limits to Friendship: The United States and Mexico''. Pastor has published extensively his theories of a North American Community, including ''Toward a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World to the New''. Through the
Independent Task Force on North America The Independent Task Force on the Future of North America advocates a greater economic and social integration between Canada, Mexico, and the United States as a region. It is a group of prominent business, political and academic leaders from the ...
he has released the reports ''Building a North American Community'' and "Creating a North American Community", both released in 2005.


See also

* North American Community of Nations *
Operation Charly Operation Charly ( es, Operación Charly, links=no), was allegedly the code-name given to a program during the 1970s and 1980s undertaken by the junta in Argentina with the objective of providing military and counterinsurgency assistance to rig ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pastor, Robert 1947 births 2014 deaths Writers from Newark, New Jersey Lafayette College alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni American University faculty and staff Academic staff of El Colegio de México Emory University faculty Peace Corps volunteers United States National Security Advisors Writers from Washington, D.C. Deaths from colorectal cancer Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Fulbright alumni