Zalmay Khalilzad

Zalmay Khalilzad
Khalilzad in 2011
U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation
In office
September 21, 2018 – October 19, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byThomas West[1]
26th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
In office
April 30, 2007 – January 22, 2009
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
Preceded byJohn Bolton
Succeeded bySusan Rice
United States Ambassador to Iraq
In office
June 21, 2005 – March 26, 2007
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byJohn Negroponte
Succeeded byRyan Crocker
15th United States Ambassador to Afghanistan
In office
September 2, 2004 – June 20, 2005
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byRobert Finn
Succeeded byRonald E. Neumann
Personal details
Born
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad

(1951-03-22) March 22, 1951 (age 73)
Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan
SpouseCheryl Benard
Children2
EducationAmerican University of Beirut (BA, MA)
University of Chicago (PhD)

Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (Pashto: زلمی خلیل زاد, Dari: زلمی خلیل‌زاد; born March 22, 1951) is an American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad was U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation from September 2018 to October 2021.[2] Khailzad was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as United States ambassador to the United Nations, serving in the role from 2007 to 2009. Khalilzad was the highest ranking Muslim-American in government at the time he left the position.[3] Prior to this, Khalilzad served in the Bush administration as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2004 to 2005 and Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.

Raised in the Afghan capital of Kabul, Khalilzad came to the United States as a high school exchange student, and later received his doctorate at the University of Chicago. During the Reagan Administration, Khalilzad served in the Department of State, where he advised on the U.S. response to the Soviet–Afghan War. Khalilzad later served as a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and as president of Gryphon Partners and Khalilzad Associates, an international business consulting firm based in Washington, D.C.

Khalilzad was rumored to be a potential candidate in the 2014 Afghan presidential election but ultimately declined to run.[4] In 2017, he was considered for secretary of state by President Donald Trump.[5] Khalilzad was appointed by Trump to serve as special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation on September 5, 2018, remaining in the position under President Joe Biden until October 18, 2021.[6] In this position, Khalilzad helped broker the US–Taliban deal and facilitating the final United States withdrawal from Afghanistan.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ Marquardt, Alex; LeBlanc, Paul (October 19, 2021). "US envoy for Afghanistan steps down following chaotic evacuation". CNN. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  2. ^ Crowley, Michael (October 18, 2021). "Zalmay Khalilzad, Biden's Envoy for Afghanistan, Steps Down". The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
  3. ^ Mashal, Mujib; Jakes, Lara (March 2, 2020). "At Center of Taliban Deal, a U.S. Envoy Who Made It Personal". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  4. ^ Hodge, Yaroslav Trofimov and Nathan (December 7, 2012). "Former U.S. Envoy Returns to Kabul Politics". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  5. ^ The Editorial Board (November 14, 2016). "Donald Trump Is Now Hiring". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  6. ^ Brennan, Margaret (October 18, 2021). "U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad resigns". CBS News.
  7. ^ "Zalmay Khalilzad, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018.
  8. ^ "Biden administration asks US negotiator with Taliban to stay on". Al Jazeera. January 28, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  9. ^ Crowley, Michael (October 18, 2021). "Zalmay Khalilzad, Biden's Envoy for Afghanistan, Steps Down". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 19, 2021.