Harold H. Saunders

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Harold H. Saunders
12th
Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs
In office
April 11, 1978 – January 16, 1981
PresidentJimmy Carter
Preceded byAlfred L. Atherton
Succeeded byNicholas A. Veliotes
6th Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
In office
December 1, 1975 – April 10, 1978
PresidentGerald Ford
Preceded byWilliam G. Hyland
Succeeded byWilliam G. Bowdler
Personal details
Born
Harold Henry Saunders

(1930-12-27)December 27, 1930
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedMarch 6, 2016(2016-03-06) (aged 85)
McLean, Virginia
NationalityAmerican
Alma materPrinceton University
Yale University

Harold Henry Saunders (December 27, 1930 – March 6, 2016) served as the United States

sustained dialogue model for resolving conflicts[2] Saunders later launched the Sustained Dialogue Institute, which uses the sustained dialogue model to address racial and other issues in the United States and abroad.[3]

Additionally, Saunders was director of international affairs at the

Dartmouth Conference Task Force.[5] He authored several works, including The Other Walls: The Arab-Israeli Peace Process in a Global Perspective (1985), A Public Peace Process: Sustained Dialogue to Transform Racial and Ethnic Conflict (1999), Politics Is about Relationship: A Blueprint for the Citizens’ Century (2005), and Sustained Dialogue in Conflicts: Transformation and Change (2011).[4]

Background

Education and Service

Saunders graduated from Princeton University in 1952 with an A.B. and Yale University in 1955 with a Ph.D, prior to joining the United States Air Force to fulfill the mandatory service requirement, which led to a liaison role with the Central Intelligence Agency.[6] Saunders joined the National Security Council staff in 1961, serving through the Johnson administration as the NSC's Mideast expert during June 1967 Six-Day War.[6] He died of prostate cancer in 2016.[7]

Diplomatic career

Kissinger Shuttles

Saunders joined the Kissinger shuttles in October 1973 as an integral part of the small team of American diplomats led by Kissinger, with whom Saunders worked for the next eight years.[8] During this period from 1973 to 1975, the Kissinger team helped negotiate a number of key disengagement agreements between Egypt and Israel. In 1974, Saunders was appointed deputy assistant secretary of state for the Near East and North Africa.[6]

In a 2010 article for Foreign Policy magazine, long-term Middle East analyst and negotiator Aaron David Miller credited the "brilliant" Saunders with coining the term "peace process," in connection with negotiations over conflict in the Middle East.[9]

Camp David

As assistant secretary of state for the Near East and South Asia under President Carter, Saunders played a critical behind-the-scenes role during the 1978 negotiations at

Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in the following year, which Saunders helped draft.[6]

Iran Hostage Crisis

In 1979, following the revolution in Iran, Saunders coordinated efforts to secure the release of the U.S. embassy staff held during the Iran hostage crisis.[6]

Sustained Dialogue

Dartmouth Conference

In October 2010, the Dartmouth Conference celebrated its 50th anniversary of a dialogue between Russian and American citizens,[10] which began as a critically needed back-channel at the behest of President Eisenhower and Soviet Premier Khrushchev in 1960. Although program takes its name from Dartmouth College, where the first meeting was held, it has no affiliation with the American educational institution. James Voorhees's 2002 book published by the United States Institute of Peace, Dialogue Sustained, chronicles the first four decades of the dialogue.[11] For the Dartmouth Conference's 50th anniversary, the Kettering Foundation published an additional volume to commemorate and chronicle all five decades.[12]

Inter-Tajik Dialogue

The

Tajik civil war.[13] The dialogues took place in Moscow, beginning in 1993 and lasting until 2003, during which 35 meetings took place.[13]

Sustained Dialogue Institute

The Sustained Dialogue Institute is an independent tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) organization formed in collaboration with the Kettering Foundation. Saunders served as president of the institute from its founding in 2002 until June 2013 and remained Board Chair until his passing in 2016.[14] The Institute helps citizens around the world to transform their conflictual or destructive relationships and to design and implement sustainable change processes.

Domestic and Global Influence

In 1991, Saunders facilitated Israeli and Palestinian citizen-leaders who forged and signed the historic document, "Framework for a Public Peace Process" .

Sustained Dialogue Campus Network. His legacy endures for negotiators and citizens equally: "There are some things only governments can do, such as negotiating binding agreements. But there are some things that only citizens outside government can do, such as changing human relationships."[16] Saunders' legacy was reflected in the 2017 Commencement Address of Notre Dame de Namur University,[17][circular reference]"STORIES OF CHANGE: Creating a Culture of Connection in The Citizens’ Century."[18]

Books

Awards

Government offices
Preceded by
Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research

December 1, 1975 – April 10, 1978
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs

April 11, 1978 – January 16, 1981
Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XVIII, Middle East Region; Arabian Peninsula - Office of the Historian".
  2. .
  3. ^ "In Memoriam: Harold Saunders".
  4. ^ a b "Dr. Harold H. Saunders, 1930-2016". Kettering Foundation. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  5. ^ "The U.S.-Russia Relationship: Where Is It Going? Why Is It Important? A Day of Reflection With Veterans of the Dartmouth Conference". Wilson Center. October 26, 2010. Archived from the original on August 19, 2006. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ Roberts, Sam (March 9, 2016). "Harold H. Saunders, Mideast Peace Broker, Dies at 85". The New York Times.
  8. . saunders kissinger shuttles.
  9. ^ Miller, Aaron David (May–June 2010). "The False Religion of Mideast Peace". Foreign Policy. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  10. ^ "Dartmouth Conference Celebrates 50th Anniversary". News Release. Kettering Foundation. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  11. .
  12. ^ "The Dartmouth Conference: the first 50 years". Kettering Foundation. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
  13. ^ a b "The Inter-Tajik Dialogue: from civil war towards civil society". Conciliation Resources. March 2001. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  14. ^ "About Us | SDI". January 23, 2015.
  15. ^ Stanford Center on International Conflict and Negotiation, Beyond War Foundation, FRAMEWORK FOR A PUBLIC PEACE PROCESS: Toward a Peaceful Israeli-Palestinian Relationship, 1991. PDF
  16. ^ Notre Dame de Namur University
  17. ^ "NDNU Address" (PDF). lycoming.edu. 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  18. ^ "Walter and Leonore Annenberg Award for Excellence in Diplomacy". American Academy of Diplomacy. Archived from the original on February 4, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
  19. ^ "American Academy of Diplomacy Newsletter". American Academy of Diplomacy. April 2004. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2010.

External links