Robert E. Hunter
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Robert Edwards Hunter is an American government employee and foreign policy expert who served as United States ambassador to NATO during the
Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
.


Early life and education

Hunter was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1940. He earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University, graduating in 1962 with honors and Phi Beta Kappa. Hunter earned a Doctor of Philosophy in international relations from the London School of Economics in 1969 as a
Fulbright Scholar 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 ...
.


Career

During the
Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...
, Hunter was United States Ambassador to NATO (1993–1998), where he was principal architect and negotiator of the post-Cold War "new NATO" and of the NATO airstrike decisions that ended the
Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The war is commonly seen as having started ...
. Throughout the administration of President Jimmy Carter, Hunter was the senior-most official on West European Affairs (1977–1979) and then Middle East Affairs (1979–1981) on 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. He was the first foreign policy advisor to Senator Edward M. Kennedy (1973–1977). He served on the White House staff, focusing on education, under President Lyndon B. Johnson (1964–1965). He was an administrative management intern at the U.S. Navy's
Polaris Project Polaris is a nonprofit non-governmental organization that works to combat and prevent sex and labor trafficking in North America. The organization's 10-year strategy is built around the understanding that human trafficking does not happen in ...
, both in Washington and the
British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
. He was President of the Atlantic Treaty Association, the umbrella organization for NATO's 41 Atlantic Councils, headquartered in Brussels, from 2003 to 2008. Hunter was Chairman of the Council for a Community of Democracies for 2001 to 2014. He was Senior Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute (1970–1973); Lead Consultant to the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America ("Kissinger Commission") from 1983 to 1984; Advisor on Lebanon to the
Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
(1983); and served on the Secretary of Defense's Defense Policy Board from 1998 to 2001. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of the American Academy of Diplomacy, a former member of the Board of the Atlantic Council of the United States, and a member of the Board of the
European Institute The European Institute is a nonpartisan public policy organization dedicated to Transatlantic relations. The Institute was founded in 1989 and is based in Washington, D.C. It regularly hosts forums, roundtable discussions, and programs with pol ...
. He was a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the
NATO Defense College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the f ...
in Rome, from 2010 to 2013. He was Chairman of the Charlemagne District of the Transatlantic Council of the Boy Scouts of America from 1994 to 1997, and is a
Distinguished Eagle Scout The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years aft ...
. He was an Associate at the
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located within the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University, in the United States. From 2017 until his death in Oc ...
from 1998 to 2010. Hunter has authored more than 1000 publications, written for ''
Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
'', ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...
'', '' The Washington Quarterly'', and many other journals, as well as chapters in books and op-ed articles in '' The Los Angeles Times'', '' The New York Times'', and '' The Washington Post'' (more than 400 articles from 1981 to 1993). His books include ''Security in Europe'',
Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes 140 ...
, 1972; ''Presidential Control of Foreign Policy: Management or Mishap'', Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1982; ''The European Security and Defense Policy: NATO's Companion or Competitor?'', RAND, 2002; ''Building a Successful Palestinian State: Security'' (with Seth Jones), RAND, 2006; and ''Building Security in the Persian Gulf'', RAND, 2010. His oral history, ''Education Never Ends'', was published by the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training in 2011. In 2021 he published academic article The Strategic Importance of the Atlantic Alliance in The Challenge to NATO: Global Security and the Atlantic Alliance. He has given thousands of speeches and radio and television appearances in more than 20 countries. He has taught at the London School of Economics, George Washington University, Georgetown University, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and Washington College, where he was Louis L. Goldstein Chair in Public Policy in 1989. He has been decorated by eight foreign countries and has twice been decorated with the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Pentagon's highest civilian decoration. Hunter has played a national policy role in eight U.S. presidential election campaigns and written speeches and articles for presidential candidates, three U.S. Presidents four Vice Presidents, Secretaries of State and Defense, Senators, Representatives and other political figures. Until July 2018, Hunter was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. He was a member of the Secretary of State's International Security Advisory Board from 2011 to 2017 (when it was dissolved). He was Director of the Center for Transatlantic Security Studies at the National Defense University from 2010 to 2012, and Senior Advisor at the
RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
from 1998 to 2010.


Personal life

He is married to Shireen Hunter (née Tahmasseb).


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Robert Edwards Permanent Representatives of the United States to NATO 1940 births Living people Wesleyan University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 3rd Class