Robert Blackwill
Encyclopedia
Robert Dean Blackwill is an American
lobbyist and retired diplomat
. Blackwill was the United States Ambassador to India
(2001–2003), and United States National Security Council
Deputy for Iraq
(2003–2004), where he was a liaison between Paul Bremer and Condoleezza Rice
.
. and grew up in Kansas
. "From my boyhood on the Great Plains
, I brought back east more than 30 years ago the values of Kansas and its people: honesty, candor, compassion, hard work, a dogged stamina in the face of challenge and adversity, a sense of humor, a recognition of one's own limitations, and a deep and abiding love of country," Blackwill said in June 2001 at his Senate confirmation hearings to become ambassador to India. Blackwill earned a B.A.
from Wichita State University
.
Blackwill served as a Peace Corps
volunteer in Malawi from 1964 to 1966. While in the Peace Corps Blackwill served with writer Paul Theroux
who Blackwill later described as "the glorious American writer who was my friend in the Peace Corps in Africa more than thirty years ago." In an interview with Rediff News on June 27, 2006 Blackwill was asked if he was still in contact with Theroux and replied "Not recently. But I just finished reading his new novel, Blinding Light. It is terrific."
in 1967. Blackwill served as a training officer in the Bureau of Personnel of the US State Department from 1968 to 1969. Blackwill served an associate watch officer in the State Department's Operations Center from 1969 to 1970.
. Blackwill served as a political officer
in Nairobi
, Kenya
from 1970 to 1972. Blackwill served as a staff officer in the Executive Secretariat of the State Department from 1972 to 1973. Blackwill served as a special assistant to State Department counselor Helmut Sonnenfeldt
in 1974. While serving as special assistant Blackwill worked closely with Paul Bremer, then chief aide to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
and Blackwill and Bremer forged a close relationship mediating policy differences between their bosses. Bremer and Blackwill would come to work together again thirty years later when Bremer was President George W. Bush
's top envoy to Iraq and Blackwill was named to the National Security Council staff in August 2003 to coordinate between Washington and Baghdad. Blackwill served as political-military officer in London, England from 1975 to 1978. Blackwill served as political counselor in Tel Aviv, Israel from 1978 to 1979. Blackwill became Director, Western European Affairs, on the National Security Council staff at the White House in 1979.
nominated Blackwill to Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be the chief negotiator of the United States of America with the Warsaw Pact
for the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions
talks. Blackwill served in this position with the rank of Ambassador. On March 13, 1989, President George H. W. Bush
appointed Blackwill Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for European and Soviet Affairs.
at Harvard University
.
In 1987 Blackwill rejoined the faculty after two years as Representative to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions Negotiations and served the Kennedy School as Associate Dean and the Belfer Lecturer in International Security for fourteen years until 2001. During his tenure Blackwill taught foreign and defense policy and public policy analysis. Blackwill was also Faculty Chair for executive training programs for business and government leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Kazakhstan, and military General Officers from Russia and the People's Republic of China.
, along with Condoleezza Rice
, was part of a group of foreign policy experts who advised Bush during his Presidential campaign in 2000 and Blackwill was rewarded after the election with the ambassadorship to India. Rice had previously worked for Blackwill during the first Bush administration when they dealt with the fall of the Berlin Wall
and the end of the Soviet empire. Blackwill had never been to India prior to his appointment as ambassador but he sought the assignment because of President Bush's designation of India as a "rising great power of the 21st century."
US ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill was greeted by slogan-shouting protesters, denouncing alleged American injustices in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, here on Wednesday morning.
The ambassador's convoy was nearly gheraoed by a group led by Majlis Bachao Tehreek MBT
president Mohammed Amanullah Khan and Tahaffuz-e-Shayar-Islami president Moulana Naseeruddin. The protesters shouted anti-American slogans and tried to Block (gherao) the ambassador's convoy.
Blackwill was on his way to see the Falaknuma palace
(one of Nizams palace in Hyderabad) when the protesters tried to block the vehicle near Jahanuma
.
The group was dispersed by the police who pushed the protesters off the road and cleared the convoy's passage. However, no one was arrested.
and displayed a strong appreciation for Indian civilization. Upon his departure as ambassador, Blackwill wrote an article for the Financial Times called What India Means To Me and wrote that "As has been said, the world is divided into two parts - those who have seen the Taj Mahal
, and those who have not. I am proud to be in the first, still too exclusive group. The Shatabdi Express transported me there and back in great comfort. A wonderful train. All of Rajasthan
entrances me. The noble Rajput legacy. Jaipur. Udaipur. Jodhpur. And perhaps my favourite, the medieval walled city of Jaisalmer, land of the Bhatti princes, born of the moon. Parapets into the sky. On some nights, there must be stars nowhere else above the planet because they all seem to be over Jaisalmer. I am surprised some city in northern Europe has not sued Jaisalmer for stealing all the stars. Be sure and take your sunglasses along when you go there — to deal with the starry nights. Standing in Jaisalmer, close your eyes for a moment and see the camel caravans coming through this desert town a thousand years ago, which I now realise by India’s civilizational standards is only yesterday - a fellow on the street might have said to me, 'yes, they came through Jaisalmer, just a little while ago.'" Upon returning to the United States, the only item on Blackwill's desk at the National Security Council was a tiny figurine of Ganesh, the Hindu
elephant-headed god of wisdom and success while a huge map of "Mother India" adorned the walls of his office.
asking him to come to Washington. Blackwill was appointed deputy assistant to President George W. Bush
on August 16, 2003 and coordinator for strategic planning under Rice. Blackwill's assignment was to undertake a new White House assignment to help develop and coordinate the direction of America's foreign policy. In his new post on the National Security Council, Blackwill quickly became the alter ego to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and was given free rein to track global trends and predict unintended consequence
s of U.S. foreign policy decisions anywhere in the world by providing long-range planning for a foreign policy team under stress from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
in his book State of Denial
reports that in 2003 Blackwill sent a lengthy memorandum to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
warning that more ground troops, perhaps as many as 40,000, were desperately needed in Iraq. Woodward reports that Blackwill and Bremer later briefed Rice and her deputy Stephen J. Hadley about the pressing need for more troops during a secure teleconference from Iraq but that the White House did nothing in response. President Bush is quoted as saying of the situation in Iraq at that time: "I don't want anyone in the cabinet to say it is an insurgency. I don't think we are there yet."
On November 12, 2004, Glenn Kessler and Al Kamen reported in the Washington Post that Condoleezza Rice had interviewed Blackwill and taken action to ensure that Blackwill dealt with his colleagues and subordinates appropriately after reports in September 2004 that Blackwill appeared to have verbally abused and physically hurt a female embassy staffer during a visit to Kuwait. The incident took place when Blackwill was returning from a visit to Baghdad and arrived at the Air France counter at the Kuwait airport to learn he was not on the flight manifest. Blackwill turned in fury to an embassy secretary and demanded that he be given a seat on the flight, grabbing her arm at one point, an official said. Anger at the top of the State Department was palpable, according to the Washington Post. “...Senior officials at the State Department took her concerns seriously. Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage called her on Powell's behalf and expressed regret for the incident. Armitage then visited her and her husband during a recent trip to Kuwait to assure her that her concerns were being addressed, the State Department official said.” A spokesman for the National Security Council said the incident was not the reason Blackwill quit his job. "Ambassador Blackwill has served the country with great distinction, including in tense and dangerous situations in Iraq," the NSC spokesman said. "The president and Dr. Rice hold Ambassador Blackwill in the highest regard, and the decision to leave was Ambassador Blackwill's own."
On December 27, 2007 the Daily Times of Pakistan published a story saying that Blackwill is on the payroll of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman providing lobbying services for them for large defense contracts from the Indian government. Lockheed Martin is going after a $10 billion contract from the Indian Air Force, for the provision of 126 fighters while Northrop Grumman is trying to acquire contracts for selling high-end radars to India. "The government has no business appointing an agent of American arms companies as their own agent, especially when those companies are vying for Indian contracts,” said Indian attorney Prashant Bhushan.
On April 20, 2008 the Times of India reported that Blackwill said that the next US President may not push the nuclear deal with India because he will not have the same sunk costs in the agreement as President Bush. "If I may be characteristically blunt, the next American president will not have the same sunk costs in the US-India civil nuclear agreement that this president (George W Bush) and the top of the administration has," Blackwill said. "India will pay a substantial price in its future energy policy, and its lack of civil nuclear assistance from the outside world." Blackwill added that the next US President would not go back to lecturing India about its nuclear program. "They (Indians) did not have much tolerance before, and they have none now. That would be a substantial irritant in the relationship if it were to occur," said Blackwill.
reported that Blackwill is handling the $300,000 lobbying contract at Barbour Griffith & Rogers International to destabilize Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
, and replace him with the firm's new client, Ayad Allawi. The contract, filed with the Justice Department, states that "B.G.R. will provide strategic counsel and representation for and on behalf of Dr. Ayad Allawi before the U.S. government, Congress, media and others." Allawi disclosed that Blackwill — whom he described as a "dear friend" — had raised the idea that the former Iraqi prime minister hire his firm. "He contacted me," Allawi said. “We were having lunch … He spoke to me and he said … there is a vacuum in Washington, and we will be able to help and assist. We know your views. We know the views of your people and we are ready to help in getting your message across to the United States."
. Shinawatra was a billionaire communications tycoon who became prime minister of Thailand and was ousted in a coup in 2006. In the evening of 19 September 2006, while Thaksin was visiting New York City
, USA to attend a United Nations
summit and to speak at the Council on Foreign Relations
, the army took control of Bangkok
.
Blackwill’s firm previously had lobbying contracts, now expired, with the secular National Dialogue Party of Lebanon, the Confederation of Indian Industry, Dubai International Capital (the private equity firm of Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Muhammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum), and Eritrea
, a nation the State Department has been threatening to designate a terrorist state.
.
Blackwill is a member and Counselor to the Council on Foreign Relations
.
Blackwill is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group of the Aspen Institute
.
Blackwill is a board member of the Nixon Center
.
Blackwill was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit, by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990.
Blackwill is a member of the guiding coalition of Project on National Security Reform
.
by William Faulkner
and he is a self-described jazz fanatic and classic-movie buff.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lobbyist and retired diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
. Blackwill was the United States Ambassador to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(2001–2003), and United States National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
Deputy for Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
(2003–2004), where he was a liaison between Paul Bremer and Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
.
Early life, education, and Peace Corps service
Blackwill was born August 8, 1939, in Kellogg, IdahoKellogg, Idaho
Kellogg is a city in the Silver Valley of Shoshone County, Idaho, United States, in the Idaho Panhandle region. The city lies near the Coeur d'Alene National Forest and about east-southeast of Coeur d'Alene along Interstate 90...
. and grew up in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. "From my boyhood on the Great Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
, I brought back east more than 30 years ago the values of Kansas and its people: honesty, candor, compassion, hard work, a dogged stamina in the face of challenge and adversity, a sense of humor, a recognition of one's own limitations, and a deep and abiding love of country," Blackwill said in June 2001 at his Senate confirmation hearings to become ambassador to India. Blackwill earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Wichita State University
Wichita State University
Wichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
.
Blackwill served as a Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
volunteer in Malawi from 1964 to 1966. While in the Peace Corps Blackwill served with writer Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux
Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work of travel writing is perhaps The Great Railway Bazaar . He has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his...
who Blackwill later described as "the glorious American writer who was my friend in the Peace Corps in Africa more than thirty years ago." In an interview with Rediff News on June 27, 2006 Blackwill was asked if he was still in contact with Theroux and replied "Not recently. But I just finished reading his new novel, Blinding Light. It is terrific."
1960s
Blackwill was appointed a Foreign Service OfficerForeign Service Officer
A Foreign Service Officer is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. As diplomats, Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic...
in 1967. Blackwill served as a training officer in the Bureau of Personnel of the US State Department from 1968 to 1969. Blackwill served an associate watch officer in the State Department's Operations Center from 1969 to 1970.
1970s
Blackwill took Swahili language training in 1970 at the Foreign Service InstituteForeign Service Institute
The Foreign Service Institute is the United States Federal Government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats and other professionals to advance U.S. foreign affairs interests overseas and in Washington...
. Blackwill served as a political officer
Political officer
Political officer may refer to:*Political officer , Occasionally, a synonym for political commissar*Political officer , in the context of the British Empire, for a pseudo-ambassadorial role in areas bordering imperial territories...
in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
from 1970 to 1972. Blackwill served as a staff officer in the Executive Secretariat of the State Department from 1972 to 1973. Blackwill served as a special assistant to State Department counselor Helmut Sonnenfeldt
Helmut Sonnenfeldt
Helmut Sonnenfeldt is an American foreign policy expert.Born in 1926 in Berlin, Germany to Drs. Walther and Gertrud Sonnenfeldt, he spent his childhood in Gardelegen, Germany, where his parents had a family medical practice. In 1938, Sonnenfeldt was sent to Anna Essinger's Bunce Court School in...
in 1974. While serving as special assistant Blackwill worked closely with Paul Bremer, then chief aide to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
and Blackwill and Bremer forged a close relationship mediating policy differences between their bosses. Bremer and Blackwill would come to work together again thirty years later when Bremer was President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's top envoy to Iraq and Blackwill was named to the National Security Council staff in August 2003 to coordinate between Washington and Baghdad. Blackwill served as political-military officer in London, England from 1975 to 1978. Blackwill served as political counselor in Tel Aviv, Israel from 1978 to 1979. Blackwill became Director, Western European Affairs, on the National Security Council staff at the White House in 1979.
1980s
Blackwill served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs in the State Department in 1981. Blackwill served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs from 1982 to 1983. After returning from a two year sabbatical at Harvard University, on March 29, 1985, President Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
nominated Blackwill to Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be the chief negotiator of the United States of America with the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
for the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions
Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions
The Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions talks were a series of negotiations held in Vienna between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries between 1973 and 1989.-Origins:...
talks. Blackwill served in this position with the rank of Ambassador. On March 13, 1989, President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
appointed Blackwill Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for European and Soviet Affairs.
Academic career
From 1983 to 1985, Blackwill was on sabbatical from the State Department and served as associate dean and faculty member at the John F. Kennedy School of GovernmentJohn F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
In 1987 Blackwill rejoined the faculty after two years as Representative to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions Negotiations and served the Kennedy School as Associate Dean and the Belfer Lecturer in International Security for fourteen years until 2001. During his tenure Blackwill taught foreign and defense policy and public policy analysis. Blackwill was also Faculty Chair for executive training programs for business and government leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Kazakhstan, and military General Officers from Russia and the People's Republic of China.
Books and articles
While at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Blackwill contributed to the following books and articles:- Conventional Arms Control and East-West Security (1989, nonfiction, co-editor)
- A Primer for the Nuclear Age (1990, nonfiction, co-editor)
- New Nuclear Nations (1993, nonfiction, co-edited with Albert Carnesale)
- Damage Limitation or Crisis? Russia and the Outside World (1994, nonfiction, with Sergei Karaganov)
- Engaging Russia: Arms Control and the U.S.-Russian Relationship, Report of an Independent Task Force (Council on Foreign Relations Press, with Rodric Braithwaite and Akihiko Tananka, 1996)
- Allies Divided: Transatlantic Policies for the Greater Middle East (1997, nonfiction, with Michael Sturmer)
- The Future of Transatlantic Relations, Report of an Independent Task Force (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1999)
- America's Asian Alliances (2000, nonfiction, co-edited with Paul Dibb)
Advisor to Bush Campaign
Blackwill, a RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, along with Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
, was part of a group of foreign policy experts who advised Bush during his Presidential campaign in 2000 and Blackwill was rewarded after the election with the ambassadorship to India. Rice had previously worked for Blackwill during the first Bush administration when they dealt with the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
and the end of the Soviet empire. Blackwill had never been to India prior to his appointment as ambassador but he sought the assignment because of President Bush's designation of India as a "rising great power of the 21st century."
Stronger ties with India
Blackwill was appointed US ambassador to India in June 2001. Blackwill was committed to taking India seriously as an American ally as a counterweight to China's growing power. Blackwill promoted perhaps the closest ties between India and the United States since India's independence in 1947. "The Bush administration perceives India as a strategic opportunity for the United States, not as an irritating recalcitrant," Blackwill said. Blackwill said that before he arrived, India was considered "a nuclear renegade whose policies threatened the entire nonproliferation regime." To promote closer ties, the United States lifted economic penalties applied against India for its 1998 nuclear tests. American military forces also conducted six major joint training exercises with India while Blackwill was ambassador.Criticism During his Stay in India
- Robert Blackwill USofA ambassador to India, convoy was nearly gheraoed and attacked in Old City, HyderabadOld City, HyderabadThe Old City, Hyderabad is a walled city of Hyderabad, India, located on the banks of the Musi River built by Qutb Shahi sultan Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 AD that remained the royal seat of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until the end of the reign of the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII...
. TNN, Oct 10, 2002.
US ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill was greeted by slogan-shouting protesters, denouncing alleged American injustices in Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine, here on Wednesday morning.
The ambassador's convoy was nearly gheraoed by a group led by Majlis Bachao Tehreek MBT
MBT
-Arts and Entertainment:*The Monster Ball Tour 2009-2011 Lady GaGa world tour.*Mount Baker Theatre*MBT, an Avalon Hill board game-Business:*Tech Mahindra *Massachusetts business trust*Master of Business & Technology...
president Mohammed Amanullah Khan and Tahaffuz-e-Shayar-Islami president Moulana Naseeruddin. The protesters shouted anti-American slogans and tried to Block (gherao) the ambassador's convoy.
Blackwill was on his way to see the Falaknuma palace
Falaknuma Palace
Falaknuma Palace is one of the finest palaces in Hyderabad, India belonging to the Paigah State but later owned by the Nizams. It is located on a 32 acre, 19400 square meters area. It is located in Falaknuma, 5 km. from Charminar was built by Nawab Vikar-ul-Umra, the then Prime Minister of...
(one of Nizams palace in Hyderabad) when the protesters tried to block the vehicle near Jahanuma
Jahanuma
Jahanuma is a densely populated area of old city in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. It is very huge in area as well. As the name indicates - 'Jahan' meaning World and 'numa' meaning like, this place is world like....
.
The group was dispersed by the police who pushed the protesters off the road and cleared the convoy's passage. However, no one was arrested.
Relations with Pakistan
One of Blackwill's major concerns while ambassador was terrorism in India and relations between India and Pakistan. After a series of terrorist attacks that India blamed on Pakistan, the two countries nearly went to war over Kashmir in June 2002. After Blackwill ordered the evacuation of embassy staff members, an event that was seen as a pressure tactic and partly credited for drawing India back from war, Blackwill encouraged India to resume dialogue with Pakistan. In a statement on his departure as ambassador, Blackwill said that the fight against international terrorism would not be won until terrorism against India ended. "There can be no other legitimate stance by the United States, no American compromise whatever on this elemental geopolitical and moral truth." Others thought that Blackwill damaged US relations with Pakistan. Pakistani analyst Ershad Mahmud of the Institute of Policy Studies called Blackwill "Delhi's front man rather than U.S. ambassador to India" and said that Blackwill "even encouraged India to take [a] hostile stance against Pakistan."Appreciation of Indian civilization
Blackwill had a very high-profile tenure as ambassador to IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and displayed a strong appreciation for Indian civilization. Upon his departure as ambassador, Blackwill wrote an article for the Financial Times called What India Means To Me and wrote that "As has been said, the world is divided into two parts - those who have seen the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
, and those who have not. I am proud to be in the first, still too exclusive group. The Shatabdi Express transported me there and back in great comfort. A wonderful train. All of Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
entrances me. The noble Rajput legacy. Jaipur. Udaipur. Jodhpur. And perhaps my favourite, the medieval walled city of Jaisalmer, land of the Bhatti princes, born of the moon. Parapets into the sky. On some nights, there must be stars nowhere else above the planet because they all seem to be over Jaisalmer. I am surprised some city in northern Europe has not sued Jaisalmer for stealing all the stars. Be sure and take your sunglasses along when you go there — to deal with the starry nights. Standing in Jaisalmer, close your eyes for a moment and see the camel caravans coming through this desert town a thousand years ago, which I now realise by India’s civilizational standards is only yesterday - a fellow on the street might have said to me, 'yes, they came through Jaisalmer, just a little while ago.'" Upon returning to the United States, the only item on Blackwill's desk at the National Security Council was a tiny figurine of Ganesh, the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
elephant-headed god of wisdom and success while a huge map of "Mother India" adorned the walls of his office.
Controversy over management style
On April 22, 2003, Blackwill announced that he was resigning as US ambassador to India to return to his academic career at Harvard University. The New York Times reported that there had been complaints about Blackwill's management style from embassy staff members that led to a review by the State Department's inspector general although after the review the complaints died down. "He's extremely bright. He has a very penetrating intellect that produces great ideas," said one official who worked with him. "He's also utterly charming and has more energy than anybody around him. He never sleeps. He's a double-A type. But he's also a prickly demanding personality who can become impatient with others who don't keep up with him. He's hard on people because he's smart. He wants things now."Coordinator for Strategic Planning
Upon his return as ambassador to India, Blackwill was originally planning to return to Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government until he got the call from National Security Advisor Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
asking him to come to Washington. Blackwill was appointed deputy assistant to President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
on August 16, 2003 and coordinator for strategic planning under Rice. Blackwill's assignment was to undertake a new White House assignment to help develop and coordinate the direction of America's foreign policy. In his new post on the National Security Council, Blackwill quickly became the alter ego to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and was given free rein to track global trends and predict unintended consequence
Unintended consequence
In the social sciences, unintended consequences are outcomes that are not the outcomes intended by a purposeful action. The concept has long existed but was named and popularised in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton...
s of U.S. foreign policy decisions anywhere in the world by providing long-range planning for a foreign policy team under stress from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Envoy to Iraq
One of Blackwill's jobs on the National Security Council in 2003 was to coordinate between Washington and Baghdad working with Paul Bremer to achieve a political handover to Iraq. Blackwill and Bremer had worked together in the State Department in 1974 and shared a conservative view of the world. "Both are basically conservatives," said one mutual friend. "But it is a 19th-century conservatism -- focused on national interest and power -- not neoconservatism." He said Bremer and Blackwill "are focused on getting things done. They are not ideological dreamers." Bob WoodwardBob Woodward
Robert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
in his book State of Denial
State of Denial
State of Denial is a 2003 documentary film about AIDS in Africa, produced and directed by Elaine Epstein. The film highlights the errors of President Mbeki's government, which insists that there isn't enough evidence to show that HIV causes AIDS and refuses vital life-saving drugs to their people...
reports that in 2003 Blackwill sent a lengthy memorandum to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
warning that more ground troops, perhaps as many as 40,000, were desperately needed in Iraq. Woodward reports that Blackwill and Bremer later briefed Rice and her deputy Stephen J. Hadley about the pressing need for more troops during a secure teleconference from Iraq but that the White House did nothing in response. President Bush is quoted as saying of the situation in Iraq at that time: "I don't want anyone in the cabinet to say it is an insurgency. I don't think we are there yet."
Alleged abuse of U.S. female staffer and abrupt departure from the Administration
On November 5, 2004, Blackwill announced his resignation from the administration. Blackwill had been mentioned as a possible successor to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in Bush's second term but Blackwill told associates that he had spent six years working for Bush—two years as a foreign policy adviser to his first presidential campaign, two years as ambassador to India and two years at the White House—and that the presidential election seemed like a natural end to this cycle in his life.On November 12, 2004, Glenn Kessler and Al Kamen reported in the Washington Post that Condoleezza Rice had interviewed Blackwill and taken action to ensure that Blackwill dealt with his colleagues and subordinates appropriately after reports in September 2004 that Blackwill appeared to have verbally abused and physically hurt a female embassy staffer during a visit to Kuwait. The incident took place when Blackwill was returning from a visit to Baghdad and arrived at the Air France counter at the Kuwait airport to learn he was not on the flight manifest. Blackwill turned in fury to an embassy secretary and demanded that he be given a seat on the flight, grabbing her arm at one point, an official said. Anger at the top of the State Department was palpable, according to the Washington Post. “...Senior officials at the State Department took her concerns seriously. Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage called her on Powell's behalf and expressed regret for the incident. Armitage then visited her and her husband during a recent trip to Kuwait to assure her that her concerns were being addressed, the State Department official said.” A spokesman for the National Security Council said the incident was not the reason Blackwill quit his job. "Ambassador Blackwill has served the country with great distinction, including in tense and dangerous situations in Iraq," the NSC spokesman said. "The president and Dr. Rice hold Ambassador Blackwill in the highest regard, and the decision to leave was Ambassador Blackwill's own."
Lobbyist
In November 2004, Blackwill joined the lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers (BGR). On October 29, 2007, the New York Times disclosed that lobbying disclosure reports at the Justice Department show that Mr. Blackwill helped bring more than $11 million in fees from foreign clients since late 2005.Lobbying for India
On January 5, 2005, the Telegraph of India reported that Blackwill was traveling to India on a trip linked to India's $600,000-a-year contract with the Washington lobbying firm, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld that had expired in April, 2004. On March 23, 2005, the Deccan Herald reported that Blackwill had spoken to the Confederation of Indian Industry in Bangalore saying that the US should enter into a long-term program of space co-operation with India and lift restrictions on the assistance given to civilian nuclear industry and hi-tech trade. "We should sell India civil nuclear reactors, both to reduce its demand for Persian Gulf energy and to ease the environmental impact of India’s vibrant economic growth." On August 31, 2005, the Daily Times of Pakistan reported that Barbour, Griffith and Rogers had won a contract to help get an Indo-US nuclear deal through Congress.On December 27, 2007 the Daily Times of Pakistan published a story saying that Blackwill is on the payroll of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman providing lobbying services for them for large defense contracts from the Indian government. Lockheed Martin is going after a $10 billion contract from the Indian Air Force, for the provision of 126 fighters while Northrop Grumman is trying to acquire contracts for selling high-end radars to India. "The government has no business appointing an agent of American arms companies as their own agent, especially when those companies are vying for Indian contracts,” said Indian attorney Prashant Bhushan.
On April 20, 2008 the Times of India reported that Blackwill said that the next US President may not push the nuclear deal with India because he will not have the same sunk costs in the agreement as President Bush. "If I may be characteristically blunt, the next American president will not have the same sunk costs in the US-India civil nuclear agreement that this president (George W Bush) and the top of the administration has," Blackwill said. "India will pay a substantial price in its future energy policy, and its lack of civil nuclear assistance from the outside world." Blackwill added that the next US President would not go back to lecturing India about its nuclear program. "They (Indians) did not have much tolerance before, and they have none now. That would be a substantial irritant in the relationship if it were to occur," said Blackwill.
Contract with Ayad Allawi
On August 28, 2007, NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
reported that Blackwill is handling the $300,000 lobbying contract at Barbour Griffith & Rogers International to destabilize Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki , also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa, is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government. He is currently in his second term as Prime Minister...
, and replace him with the firm's new client, Ayad Allawi. The contract, filed with the Justice Department, states that "B.G.R. will provide strategic counsel and representation for and on behalf of Dr. Ayad Allawi before the U.S. government, Congress, media and others." Allawi disclosed that Blackwill — whom he described as a "dear friend" — had raised the idea that the former Iraqi prime minister hire his firm. "He contacted me," Allawi said. “We were having lunch … He spoke to me and he said … there is a vacuum in Washington, and we will be able to help and assist. We know your views. We know the views of your people and we are ready to help in getting your message across to the United States."
Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq
The Regional Government has paid Barbour Griffith & Rogers $1.4 million since 2005. "We have had a long-term relationship with the firm," said Qubad Talabani, the Washington representative of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. Kurdinstan is pushing for Washington's support of its oil contracts with foreign companies.Thaksin Shinawatra
Blackwill represents Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
. Shinawatra was a billionaire communications tycoon who became prime minister of Thailand and was ousted in a coup in 2006. In the evening of 19 September 2006, while Thaksin was visiting New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, USA to attend a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
summit and to speak at the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
, the army took control of Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
.
Other clients
On October 29, 2007, the New York Times disclosed that Blackwill's other clients include Serbia, China, and the Alfa Bank in Moscow.Blackwill’s firm previously had lobbying contracts, now expired, with the secular National Dialogue Party of Lebanon, the Confederation of Indian Industry, Dubai International Capital (the private equity firm of Dubai’s ruler, Sheik Muhammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum), and Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
, a nation the State Department has been threatening to designate a terrorist state.
Departure from Barbour Griffiths Rogers
On April 19, 2008 the Times of India reported that Blackwill is leaving the lobbying firm of Barbour Griffiths Rogers International to go to work as a senior fellow at Rand Corporation, one of the United States' premier think tanks. "I will be leaving BGR to join Rand Corporation in California, as senior fellow," said Blackwill. "I now feel the compelling need for sustained time to reflect and write about America’s role in the world in this difficult and dangerous period.” In September 2010, Blackwill rejoined the Council on Foreign Relations as the Henry Kissinger Senior Fellow.Relations with Pakistan
On October 21, 2007, the New York Times reported on the "nightmare scenario" in Pakistan in the aftermath of the carnage after bombs exploded killing and wounding hundreds of supporters of Benazir Bhutto after her arrival in Pakistan. "We have to remember that the U.S. doesn’t have very much capability to affect internal developments" in Pakistan, said Robert Blackwill. "What I am struck by are the trends we see today: the North-West Province is ungovernable and a sanctuary for terrorists. The politics are fractured and deeply unstable, Musharraf is weaker, and the army is uncertain which way it will go."Memberships, honors, and awards
Blackwill is a member of Executive Committee of the International Institute for Strategic StudiesInternational Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
.
Blackwill is a member and Counselor to the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
.
Blackwill is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group of the Aspen Institute
Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950 as the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies. The organization is dedicated to "fostering enlightened leadership, the appreciation of timeless ideas and values, and open-minded dialogue on contemporary issues." The...
.
Blackwill is a board member of the Nixon Center
Nixon Center
The Nixon Center was a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank. On March 9, 2011 it was renamed The Center for the National Interest....
.
Blackwill was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit, by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990.
Blackwill is a member of the guiding coalition of Project on National Security Reform
Project on National Security Reform
The Project on National Security Reform is a nonpartisan non-profit organization mandated by the United States Congress to recommend improvements to the U.S. national security system. Advocates of reform of the U.S...
.
Personal
Blackwill is married to Wera Hildebrand and has five grown children. His favorite book is Absalom, Absalom!Absalom, Absalom!
Absalom, Absalom! is a Southern Gothic novel by the American author William Faulkner, first published in 1936. It is a story about three families of the American South, taking place before, during, and after the Civil War, with the focus of the story on the life of Thomas Sutpen.-Plot...
by William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
and he is a self-described jazz fanatic and classic-movie buff.
External links
- Biography of Robert Blackwill, U.S. Department of State, January 14, 2002.
- Counselor, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
- Member of the Board; International Council Member, Belfer Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.
- Barbour Griffith & Rogers, a lobbying firm.
- SourceWatch profile of Robert Blackwill
- News clips about Robert Blackwill
- State Dept Mum on Blackwill; morale hits rock bottom at U.S. Embassy, Times of India, May 16, 2002.
- Andrew Grotto. Who is Robert Blackwill?, Center for American Progress, August 23, 2004.
- Robert Blackwill at a Sikh temple.
- http://www.saag.org/papers3/paper216.htmReport on Robert Blackwill by South Asia Analysis GroupSouth Asia Analysis GroupSouth Asia Analysis Group is a non-profit think tank based in India which conducts public interest and advocacy work. The group consists of Indian academics and former government officials...
] - Bush Adviser On Iraq Policy To Step Down, Washington Post, November 6, 2004.