Talcott Williams Seelye (March 6, 1922 – June 8, 2006) was a United States

Foreign Service Officer A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...

, United States Ambassador, author, and commentator.

Early life

Seelye was born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon, the son of American parents, Kate Ethel (Chambers) and Laurens Hickok Seelye, a professor at 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 ...

. He was a great-grandson of

Julius Hawley Seelye Julius Hawley Seelye (September 14, 1824 – May 12, 1895) was a missionary, author, United States Representative, and former president of Amherst College. The system of Latin honors in use at many universities worldwide is said to have been cr ...

(famed preacher, writer and fifth president of

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

). His older sisters were writer Dorothea Seelye Franck, and dancer and performance artist Mary-Averett Seelye. He attended

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admissi ...

and then graduated from

in 1944 and enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three-year term during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His time training at

Camp Ritchie Fort Ritchie at Cascade, Maryland was a military installation southwest of Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania and southeast of Waynesboro in the area of South Mountain. Following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, it closed in 19 ...

in the Military Intelligence Training Center classifies him among 20,000 other

Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys were a special collection of soldiers, with sizable numbers of German-Austrian recruits, of Military Intelligence Service officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Washington County, Maryland. ...

Diplomatic career

Seelye joined the Foreign Service in 1949, and was posted in Stuttgart, Ulm, Amman, Beirut, and Kuwait. From 1960 to 1964, he was Iraq-Jordan desk officer, then officer in charge of Arabian Peninsula affairs, at the State Department. In 1964 to 65 Seelye attended the National War College, and from 1965 to 1968, he was Chief of Mission in Jidda. From 1968 to 1972, he was Country Director for Lebanon, Jordan, the Syrian Arab Republic, and Iraq. From 1972 to 1976, Seelye was Ambassador to Tunisia. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1976 to 1977. In 1976 he also served as special representative to the President of Lebanon. From 1979 to 1981, Seelye was Ambassador to Syria, which was his final post before retiring.

Post–Foreign Service career

In editorial articles, television commentary, and other public appearances, Seelye had been critical of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

for its militarism and of US foreign policy for being in support of such policies. Within the framework of America's pro-Israel

lobby Lobby may refer to: * Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building * Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians :* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States * Lobby (food), a thick stew ...

(see

American Israel Public Affairs Committee The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC ) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States. One of several pro-Israel lobbying organizations in the United Stat ...

, Seelye has often been portrayed as an

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine ...

Arabist An Arabist is someone, often but not always from outside the Arab world, who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and culture (usually including Arabic literature). Origins Arabists began in medieval Muslim Spain, which lay on the ...

. His work has been reviewed, critically, by pro-Israel groups such as Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), Middle East Forum (with its

Campus Watch Campus Watch is a web-based project of the Middle East Forum, a think tank with its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to its website, Campus Watch "reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improv ...

project), and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who have reported on Seelye's ties to oil companies and the Saudi Arabian

House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), and ...

. Critics include

Steven Emerson Steven Emerson (born June 6, 1954) is an American journalist, author, and pundit on national security, terrorism, and Islamic extremism. Some have called Emerson an Islamophobe, who has recently been accused of spying on two different American ...

(''The American House of Saud: The Secret Petrodollar Connection''),

Daniel Pipes Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American historian, writer, and commentator. He is the president of the Middle East Forum, and publisher of its ''Middle East Quarterly'' journal. His writing focuses on American foreign policy and the ...

, Martin Kramer, David Horowitz, and Robert D. Kaplan. After the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

in 2001, Seelye again found himself in the spotlight as an expert on Middle Eastern affairs and continued to advise think tanks and policy making groups. He also continues to be strongly criticized by writers who do not agree with his views on the Middle East, such as an ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' article Robert D. Kaplan in which he wrote of Seelye that such "Arabists and other area specialists may be emotionally involved, through marriage or friendship, with host countries – often causing them to dislike the policies that Washington orders them to execute." Seelye and over 50 former US ambassadors and government officials signed the

Middle East Policy Council The Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization that produces analysis and commentary on issues impacting U.S. national interests in the Middle East. It was founded in 1981 under the stated mission ...

's letter to President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, criticizing US policy on the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

, specifically Israeli Prime Minister

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

's unilateral Gaza withdrawal plan, announced in 2004 and enacted in 2005 (letter cited below), which followed earlier British diplomats' letter to Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

. Seeyle is the father of Kate Seelye, a reporter who works for NPR.

Service chronology

Written works

Books

* ''U.S.-Arab Relations: The Syrian Dimension'' (Portland: Portland State University Press, 1985)

Articles

*
Journal of Palestine Studies
' – review of ''Syria and Israel:'' b

(1996)
AMEU ''The Link''
– book review (1995) *
Journal of Palestine Studies
' – review of ''Deliberate Deceptions'' by Paul Findley (1995) * Numerous articles

U.S. Department of State documents

– on TWA hijacking (1969)

on military supply program in Jordan (1968)

on Arab-Israeli impasse (1968)

on message to King Hussein of Jordan (1968)
Memorandum
on audience with King Hussein (1968)

on message for King Hussein (1968)

on 1967 ceasefire (1968)

on Lebanon's views on 1967 ceasefire (1968)

on discussions of Jordan's internal defense (1968)

on message to Jordanian prime minister Talhouni (1968)

on Yemen Situation (1962)

on conversation with Crown Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia (1962)
Memorandum
on Yemen situation (1962)

on US position on the recognition of the

Yemen Arab Republic The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية اليمنية '), also known simply as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the northwestern part of what is now Yemen.The United States extend ...

(1962)
Telegram
on Assistant Secretary Philip Talbot's meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Faisal in New York (1962)

on death of Yemeni imam Ahmed bin Yahya (1962)

of conversation between Assistant Secretary Philip Talbot and Saudi Crown Prince Faisal in New York (1962)

on matters from White House meeting between President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

and King Saud of Saudi Arabia (1962)
Memorandum
of conversation between President Kennedy and King Saud (1962)

from USDOS to US embassies in Kuwait and United Kingdom (1962)

on upcoming meeting between President Kennedy and King Saud (1961)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seelye, Talcott 1922 births 2006 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Tunisia United States Army personnel of World War II Amherst College alumni Deerfield Academy alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Syria United States Foreign Service personnel American expatriates in Lebanon American expatriates in Germany American expatriates in Kuwait American expatriates in Jordan American expatriates in Saudi Arabia American expatriates in Iraq 20th-century American diplomats People from Beirut