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Biography
Birthday: March 22, 1951
Birthplace: Mazar-e Sharif province, Afghanistan.
Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad is a potential candidate for
the August 20th Afghan presidential elections. He currently is also
a counselor at the the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).
Before joining the CSIS, he served as the United States Permanent
Representative to the United Nations.
From 2005 to 2007, Dr. Khalilzad was the United
States Ambassador to Iraq. Secretary of Defense Gates awarded Dr.
Khalilzad the Department of Defense medal for outstanding public service
for his service in Iraq.
From 2003 to 2005, he served as the U.S.
Ambassador to Afghanistan and also as Special Presidential Envoy to
Afghanistan. Then-Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld awarded Dr. Khalilzad the
Department of Defense medal for outstanding public service for his work in
Afghanistan. President Karzai awarded him Afghanistan highest medal—the
King Amanullah award.
Before becoming Ambassador to Afghanistan, he
served as Presidential Envoy and Ambassador at Large for free Iraqis and
he served at the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the
President and Senior Director for Islamic Outreach and Southwest Asia
Initiatives, and prior to that as Special Assistant to the President and
Senior Director for Southwest Asia, Near East, and North African Affairs.
Dr. Khalilzad headed the Bush-Cheney transition
team for the Department of Defense and has been a Counselor to Secretary
of Defense Rumsfeld.
Between 1993 and 1999, Dr. Khalilzad was Director
of the Strategy, Doctrine and Force Structure program for RAND's Project
Air Force. While with RAND, he founded the Center for Middle Eastern
Studies. Between 1991 and 1992, Dr. Khalilzad served as Assistant Deputy
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning. Then-Secretary of Defense
Cheney awarded Dr. Khalilzad the Department of Defense medal for
outstanding public service.
Dr. Khalilzad also served as a senior political
scientist at RAND and an associate professor at the University of
California at San Diego in 1989 and 1991. From 1985 to 1989 at the
Department of State, Dr. Khalilzad served as Special Advisor to the Under
Secretary of State for Political Affairs working policy issues, advising
on the Iran-Iraq war and the Soviet war in Afghanistan. From 1979 to 1986,
Dr. Khalilzad was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Columbia
University.
Dr. Khalilzad received his bachelor's and
master's degree from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He went
on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Dr. Khalilzad is the
author of more than 200 books, articles, studies, and reports. His work
has been translated in many languages including Arabic, Chinese, German,
Japanese, and Turkish.
Dr. Khalilzad is married to Cheryl Benard, a
senior analyst with the RAND Corporation, and together, they have
two children. |
