Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (Pashto: زلمی خلیل زاد, Dari: زلمی خلیلزاد; born March 22, 1951) is an American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad served as the United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation from September 2018 to October 2021. Khalilzad was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, a post he held from 2007 to 2009. At the time of his departure from that post, Khalilzad was the highest-ranking Muslim American in the administration. Previously, Mr. Khalilzad served as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2004 to 2005 and as U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.
Raised in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Mr. Khalilzad came to the United States as an exchange student and later earned a doctorate from the University of Chicago. During the Reagan administration, Khalilzad served in the State Department, advising the U.S. on its response to the Soviet-Afghan war. Later, Khalilzad worked as a consultant at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and as president of Gryphon Partners and Khalilzad Associates, an international consulting firm based in Washington, D.C.
It was rumored that Khalilzad could be a potential candidate for the Afghan presidential election in 2014, but he ultimately renounced a candidacy. In 2017, he was considered by President Donald Trump for the post of Secretary of State. On September 5, 2018, Khalilzad was appointed by Trump as the Special Envoy for Reconciliation in Afghanistan and remained in that role under President Joe Biden until October 18, 2021. In that position, Khalilzad helped broker the agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban and facilitated the United States' final withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Life and education
Khalilzad was born in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, and grew up in Kabul, the country's capital. He is an ethnic Pashtun and belongs to the Noorzai tribe. Khalilzad first attended the public Ghazi Lycée in Kabul.
He spent his first period in the United States as a high school exchange student with AFS Intercultural Programs in Ceres, California. He later earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Khalilzad earned his doctorate at the University of Chicago, where he worked closely with Albert Wohlstetter, a noted thinker and strategist in the field of nuclear deterrence. Wohlstetter provided Khalilzad with contacts within the government and at RAND. Khalilzad has authored at least 28 works for the RAND Corporation.
Early Career
From 1979 to 1989, Khalilzad worked as an assistant professor of political science at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. During this time, he worked closely with Zbigniew Brzezinski, the architect of the Carter administration's Operation Cyclone to support Afghan mujahideen opposing the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
In 1984, Khalilzad accepted a one-year Council on Foreign Relations fellowship and transferred to the U.S. State Department, where he served as a consultant in the Office of the Middle East and South Asia, headed by Richard W. Murphy.
From 1985 to 1989, Khalilzad served in the Reagan administration as a senior State Department official and provided advice on the Soviet-Afghan war following the Soviet invasion. During that time, he was a member of the Policy Planning Staff and Special Assistant to Undersecretary Michael H. Armacost for Afghanistan. In that role, he developed and directed the international program promoting the advantages of a mujahideen-led Afghanistan in place of Soviet occupation. From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Khalilzad served in the Department of Defense under President George H.W. Bush as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning.
Between 1993 and 2000, Mr. Khalilzad was director of the Strategy, Doctrine, and Force Structure Division at the RAND Corporation. During this time, he helped establish the RAND Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the RAND Journal Strategic Appraisal. He is also the author of several influential monographs, including The United States and a Rising China and From Containment to Global Leadership? America and the World After the Cold War. During his time at RAND, he also worked briefly as a consultant for Cambridge Energy Research Associates, which was conducting a risk assessment for Unocal, now part of Chevron Corporation, for a $2 billion, 1,400-kilometer, 622 cubic meters per second Trans-Afghanistan Gas Pipeline project that would run from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan and then on to Pakistan.
Support for U.S. Global Leadership
Khalilzad also wrote several articles in the mid-1990s about the value of U.S. global leadership. The specific conflict scenarios he painted in the event of waning American power made his writings extremely popular in high school and college political debates, particularly his articles that linked the loss of U.S. hegemony to global instability. Khalilzad was among the signatories of the January 26, 1998, letter sent to President Bill Clinton by the members of the Project for the New American Century. In it, he asked Clinton for help in "eliminating Saddam Hussein and his regime” by "deploying all elements of our diplomatic, political, and military power.”
Views
American policy
Khalilzad is described as a "lifelong Republican,” though he did not support Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
===The role of the United States in the world=== A 2006 profile in The Guardian said he combined "the commitment of an American neoconservative with the cultural sensitivity of his Islamic background.” Khalilzad has at times embraced the label, co-authoring an article titled "The Neoconservative Case for Negotiating With Iran” in Politico in 2006.
In 1995, Khalilzad articulated his views on the appropriate role for the United States in the post-Cold War era:
The United States should be prepared to use force, if necessary, to that end. Currently, there are two regions whose control by a hostile power could pose a global challenge: East Asia and Europe. The Persian Gulf is also critical for another reason – its oil deposits are vital to the world economy. Over the long term, the relative importance of different regions may change. A region that is critical to American interests today may become less so, while another becomes more so.
Regarding U.S. military pre-eminence, Khalilzad argued for maintaining a military strong enough to be able to "deal with two major regional contingencies almost simultaneously”:
For the foreseeable future, this means having the ability to deal with two major regional contingencies almost simultaneously, e.g. Korea and the Gulf. The United States should also develop the capacity to intervene occasionally in smaller regional conflicts, for example to provide humanitarian relief, and to deter weapons of mass destruction and ballistic and cruise missiles. Over the longer term, they should consider sizing their forces to be able to deter plausible military attacks on critical U.S. interests that could be launched by the next two strongest non-U.S. military forces.
Afghanistan
Taliban
In June 2001, Khalilzad argued that "the United States must act now to weaken the Taliban and contain the spread of ‘Talibanism’.” In a paper, Khalilzad advocated the following measures to weaken the Taliban's control over Afghanistan:
Changing the balance of power by supporting the Taliban's opponents;
countering Taliban ideology and giving air time on Voice of America to Taliban opponents and moderate Islamic leaders;
pressuring Pakistan to withdraw its support;
helping the victims of the Taliban;
supporting moderate forces in Afghanistan by helping to convene a grand assembly to elect an inclusive transitional government; and
bolstering the Afghan narrative.
Peace Process in Afghanistan
In June 2009, at an event at UC Berkeley, Khalilzad stated the following:
I believe, and I said this to President Karzai a few months ago, because he talks a lot about reconciliation, which is conceptually an absolute necessity, that any war must be ended, but circumstances must be created for this wish to be successful. I told him to put his own house in order first, to get a grip on the corruption problem, to improve governance, to improve services, then people would say, "Aha... I want to be on this side because it seems like it's the better side, the side that's showing resolve. But if they see that your judges are corrupt and your governors are not providing services, then initially people would think, 'Why should I die for this, I'll be neutral,' or even worse, if the other side offers more security, it becomes even more difficult.”
In a paper published in 1993, he advocated "trade sanctions” against North Korea, "an increase in US and South Korean military preparedness” and "a direct military attack”.
The use of force by a U.S.-allied coalition has a greater chance of achieving the U.S. goal, either by halting the program or by bringing about greater North Korean acquiescence, depending on the amount of force used and how effective it is. However, given the risk of triggering a second Korean War, it is unclear whether the South Koreans or the Japanese can be persuaded to agree.
In 2001, President George W. Bush asked him to head his transition team for the Department of Defense, and Khalilzad served briefly as an adviser to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. In May 2001, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice announced the appointment of Khalilzad as a special assistant to the President and director for Southwest Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa at the National Security Council. In December 2002, Bush appointed Khalilzad as his special representative for the liberation of Iraq, tasking him with coordinating "preparations for an Iraq after Saddam Hussein”.
After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Bush relied on Khalilzad's knowledge of Afghanistan. Khalilzad had been involved in the early planning for the overthrow of the Taliban and was appointed Bush's special envoy for Afghanistan on December 31, 2001. He held this office until November 2003, when he was appointed US ambassador to Afghanistan. Khalilzad held this office from November 2003 to June 2005.
During this time, he oversaw the drafting of the Afghan constitution and helped organize the first elections and the first session of the Loya Jirga (the traditional grand assembly). At the June 2002 Loya Jirga, called to elect the head of state, U.S. officials persuaded former Afghan king, 87-year-old Zahir Shah, to withdraw his name even though he had the support of a majority of Loya Jirga delegates. This move angered the Pashtuns, who were concerned about the disproportionate power of the Northern Alliance in the Karzai administration. During Khalilzad's tenure as ambassador, the new Afghan President Hamid Karzai regularly consulted with him on policy decisions, and the two regularly went out to dinner together. In 2004 and 2005, he also helped establish the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF), the first American-model higher education institution in Afghanistan. In 2016, he received the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan International Public Service Award.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq
[[File:Jalal Talabani Rumsfeld Rice Khalilzad.jpg|thumb|left|Khalilzad with Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in April 2006.]
Khalilzad assumed his post as U.S. ambassador to Iraq on June 21, 2005. He is credited with helping to negotiate compromises that allowed the ratification of the Iraqi Constitution in October 2005. Khalilzad also worked to ensure the smooth running of the December 2005 elections and played an important role in the formation of the first post-Saddam government. Khalilzad also helped establish the American University of Iraq in Sulaymaniyah and serves on its board of governors.
Compared to his predecessors in Baghdad, Paul Bremer and John Negroponte, Khalilzad was seen as a successful ambassador who was culturally sensitive and had a human touch that fostered contact with Iraqis.
Khalilzad was one of the first high-ranking administration officials to warn that sectarian violence had replaced insurgents as the greatest threat to Iraq's stability. In the aftermath of the February 2006 Al Askari Mosque bombing, he warned that the spread of sectarian violence could lead to civil war and possibly even broader conflict with neighboring countries. Khalilzad sought political solutions to the sectarianism problem, and in particular, he worked to improve the balance of power between Iraq's three main ethnic groups in an effort to curb the rising Sunni violence.
Ambassador Khalilzad's term of office ended on March 26, 2007. He was replaced by Ryan Crocker, a career diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
[[File:Zalmay Khalilzad - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2008.jpg|thumb|Khalilzad at the 2008 World Economic Forum in Switzerland, attending the plenary session "Understanding Iran's Foreign Policy” on January 26, 2008]].
On February 12, 2007, the White House submitted Khalilzad's nomination to the Senate for the post of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He was unanimously confirmed by the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate on March 29, 2007. This was in stark contrast to Khalilzad's predecessor, John R. Bolton, who was not confirmed by the Senate due to his often controversial rhetoric, but received a postponement of the appointment.
Colleagues at the United Nations noted that Khalilzad had a different style than Bolton and was more conciliatory.
In November 2007, Khalilzad accused Iran of supporting insurgent groups in Afghanistan and Iraq. He told the media shortly after the publication of the International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran that the Iranian government was clearly pursuing its nuclear program. Khalilzad stated that the U.S. would seek another Chapter 7 resolution in the Security Council to impose additional sanctions on Iran.
In August 2008, he called on the Security Council to "take urgent action” and "condemn Russia's military assault on the sovereign state of Georgia.” He also stated that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had told U.S. Secretary of State Rice that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili "must go.”
Private Sector (2009-2018)
From 2009 to 2018, Khalilzad was president of Khalilzad Associates, LLC, an "international consulting firm serving clients at the intersection of commerce and public policy and helping global companies navigate the most promising and challenging international markets.” The clients of Khalilzad Associates and its parent company, Gryphon Capital Partners, include international and US companies that are primarily interested in doing business in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to Khalilzad, these include companies in the energy, construction, education and infrastructure sectors.
Khalilzad has been an advisor at the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS) and sits on the boards of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), America Abroad Media (AAM), the Middle East Studies Center of the RAND Corporation, the Atlantic Council, the American University of Iraq in Suleymania (AUIS), the American University of Kurdistan (AUK) and the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF).
On September 9, 2014, a report appeared in the Austrian media that Austrian authorities were investigating Khalilzad on suspicion of money laundering and that his wife's accounts had been frozen. On September 10, the Austrian court announced that the case had been dropped and the accounts had been unfrozen a week earlier, on September 3. The leak was the result of court documents being thrown into the general trash, unredacted, and then found by bloggers.
In 2015, he donated over $100,000 to the Atlantic Council, a US think tank.
Khalilzad's political autobiography, "The Envoy: From Kabul to the White House, My Journey Through a Turbulent World,” was published by St. Martin's Press in 2016.
---Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation and Follow-up
[[File:Secretary of State Pompeo attends a signing ceremony in Doha (49601220548).jpg|thumb|Khalilzad (left) and Taliban representative Abdul Ghani Baradar (right) sign the Peace Agreement for Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar, on February 29, 2020
In September 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appointed Khalilzad as the Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation, a newly created envoy to secure a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Afghanistan. He has held this post since March 2021 under the new Joe Biden administration.
On May 18, 2021, at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on U.S. policy in Afghanistan, Khalilzad downplayed the prospect of a quick Taliban takeover following U.S. withdrawal, , saying, "If they [the Taliban] are seeking, in my view, a military victory, it will lead to a long war because the Afghan security forces will fight, other Afghans will fight, the neighbors will come to support other forces.”
He later added at the same hearing: "I personally believe that the claims that [Afghan] forces will disband and the Talibs will take power in a short time are false. The Afghans really have to choose between a long war and a negotiated solution.” Despite this statement, the 2021 Taliban offensive resulted in a swift takeover of power by the Taliban and the disbanding of the Afghan National Army. Ahmad Wali Massoud, a Taliban opponent who is also critical of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's administration, accused Khalizad of playing a role in the Taliban's return to power in an interview published by TRT World on September 21, 2021. Massoud argued that the Taliban lacked the military capacity to retake Kabul without significant support, and also expressed mistrust of increased U.S. efforts to use the Taliban to fight the ISIS-K terror group.
In 2022, Politico reported that Khalilzad attended a dinner with Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Khalilzad reportedly stated, "We need a deal” to end the war in Ukraine, and Antonov reportedly agreed. Center for the National Interest President and CEO Dimitri Simes was also at the dinner, where he pitched the idea of starting a new media company in Moscow, an idea Khalilzad said could be "very lucrative.”
Awards
Khalilzad's service in the government has been recognized by three different defense secretaries: Robert Gates awarded Khalilzad the Department of Defense Medal for Meritorious Public Service for his service in Iraq. Donald Rumsfeld awarded Khalilzad the Department of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service for his work in Afghanistan. Dick Cheney awarded Khalilzad the Department of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service for his time as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning from 1991 to 1992.
Khalilzad has also been awarded the highest national medals by the Presidents of Afghanistan, Georgia, and Kosovo. In Afghanistan, he was awarded the King Amanullah Medal in 2005. The President of Georgia awarded Khalilzad the Order of the Golden Fleece in 2016. The President of Kosovo awarded Khalilzad the Order of Independence in 2017.
Personal life
Khalilzad is an ethnic Pashtun. Khalilzad's wife is author and political analyst Cheryl Benard. They met while studying at the American University of Beirut in 1972. They have two children.
