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Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill
International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Experience
Ambassador Blackwill joined Barbour Griffith & Rogers in November 2004 after serving as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Planning under President George W. Bush. In this position, Ambassador Blackwill was responsible for government-wide policy planning operations to help develop and coordinate the mid- and long-term direction of U.S. foreign policy. He also served as Presidential Envoy to Iraq, was the Administration’s Coodinator for U.S. policies regarding Afghanistan and Iran, and traveled on Air Force One with the President in the latter stages of the 2004 Presidential campaign.
Ambassador Blackwill went to the National Security Council after having served as the U.S. Ambassador to India. Nominated and appointed by President George W. Bush, he assumed his position as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of India on July 27, 2001, and completed his tenure on July 30, 2003. Prior to serving as Ambassador to India, Blackwill was the Belfer Lecturer in International Security at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. During his fourteen years as a Harvard faculty member, he was Associate Dean of the Kennedy School and directed executive training programs for business and government leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel, as well as General Officers from Russia and the People’s Republic of China.
From 1989–1990, Ambassador Blackwill served as Special Assistant to President George H.W. Bush for European and Soviet Affairs, during which time he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany for his contribution to German unification. Earlier in his career, he was the U.S. Ambassador to conventional arms negotiations with the Warsaw Pact, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs. The author of many books and articles on international security, he is Counselor to the Council on Foreign Relations and on the Boards of the Nixon Center and Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
December 12, 2007
"Forgive Russia, Confront Iran"
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill argues that even though there has been a systemic decline in Russia's relations with the West, the US and other Western powers should forgive their offenses in order to develop sound policy for what should be the West's highest priority- ensuring Iran does not gain possession of nuclear weapons.
June 1, 2006
Jaw-Jaw Before War-War?
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
February 27, 2006
Forging Fresh Bonds
Op-Ed, India Times
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
July 22, 2005
Diplomacy Is Back at the State Department!
Op-Ed, The Wall Street Journal
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Summer 2005
The India Imperative
Journal Article, The National Interest, issue 80
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
March 21, 2005
A New Deal for New Delhi
Op-Ed, The Wall Street Journal
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
December 12, 2004
France in Pain
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
1993
The Role of Intelligence
Book Chapter
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Harvard & Stanford Universities
Chapter 9 in New Nuclear Nations: Consequences for U.S. Policy
August 27, 1991
On With the Grand Bargain
Op-Ed, The Washington Post
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative and Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
In the aftermath of the failed Soviet coup, the United States should urgently take the lead in implementing a robust strategy to confront perhaps the most daunting geopolitical challenge yet for the Bush administration: the long-term Soviet transformation and that of the republics (or independent nations) to democracy and a market economy.
New Nuclear Nations: Consequences for U.S. Policy
Book
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Albert Carnesale, Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Public Policy



