Burton Lynn Pascoe (born July 7, 1943) served as
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations
An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under-s ...
at the
UN Department of Political Affairs from 2007 to June 2012, where he oversaw the UN's diplomatic efforts to prevent and mitigate conflict around the globe.
Career
Pascoe was previously
United States Ambassador to Indonesia
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to the Republic of Indonesia.
Indonesia had been a Dutch colony since 1800 as a part of the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch were expelled in March 1942 by the Japanese occupation of Indonesia. Aft ...
after being nominated by 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 ...
from 2004 to 2007, and to
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 ...
from 1999 to 2001.
On 4 September 2001, he took up duties as Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the
U.S. State Department. Earlier, he served as U.S. Special Negotiator for
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh ( ) is a landlocked country, landlocked region in the Transcaucasia, South Caucasus, within the mountainous range of Karabakh, lying between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik, and covering the southeastern range o ...
and Regional Conflicts and the U.S. co-chair of the
OSCE Minsk Group
The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), now Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between Azer ...
of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
.
From 1993 to 1996, he was the director of the
American Institute in Taiwan
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT; ) is the ''de facto'' Embassy of the United States of America in Taiwan. The AIT institution is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the federal government of the United States in Taiwan with Congressional oversi ...
(AIT). He also served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the East Asian and Pacific Bureau of the State Department,
Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the
United States Embassy in Beijing (from 1989
to 1992), Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department of States and Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State.
In his diplomatic career, he has been posted to Moscow, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, and Kuala Lumpur. He speaks Mandarin Chinese.
On February 21, 2010, three days after North Korea declared it would not abandon its nuclear weapons program, Pascoe, who had just visited Pyongyang, strongly defended international food aid to the country.
"These are human beings that need the food. It's not the political system. This shouldn't be argued in a political way," he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
Personal life
Born in 1943, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kansas with three bachelor's degrees in East Asian languages and cultures, international relations, and mathematics and his Master of Arts from Columbia University, focusing on Chinese government affairs and international relations.
He is married with two daughters.
Notes and references
Notes
References
External links
United Nations Department of Political Affairs*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pascoe, B. Lynn
Ambassadors of the United States to Indonesia
Ambassadors of the United States to Malaysia
Under-Secretaries-General of the United Nations
Directors of the American Institute in Taiwan
University of Kansas alumni
Columbia University alumni
1943 births
Living people
American officials of the United Nations
United States Foreign Service personnel