Event Title: Ambassador John Herbst - Afghanistan, Iraq and the National Security Dangers of Ungoverned Spaces

Who:  Ambassador John E. Herbst, Center for Complex Operations, National Defense University
When:  Thursday, October 20, 2011 (Dinner Meeting)

Executive Meeting Summary: Click Here to View

By PCFR Member Cap Dean.

To view Ambassador Herbst's biography, click here.

Afghanistan, Iraq and the National Security Dangers of Ungoverned Spaces: Whither American Policy

     PCFR is pleased to welcome Ambassador John Edward Herbst. Ambassador Herbst joined the United States Foreign Service in 1979. Additionally, he has worked as a political counselor at the US embassies in Tel Aviv, Israel, Moscow, Russia, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has also worked as the Director of Regional Affairs in the Near East Bureau of the United States State Department, as the Director of the Office of Independent States and Commonwealth Affairs, as the Principal Deputy to the Ambassador-at-large for the Newly Independent States, and as US Consul General in Jerusalem. He was appointed Ambassador to Uzbekistan in 2000, and to Ukraine in 2003. In 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed Ambassador Herbst as Coordinator for the Office of Reconstruction and Stabilization.
     Ambassador Herbst was nominated by President Clinton to be the U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan. Ambassador Herbst, serving as U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan during the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom, helped arrange base access in the buildup stages. In the aftermath of 9/11, Uzbekistan became an area of heightened importance to the US, and a strategic ally in the War on Terror.
     During the period that became known as the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, Ambassador Herbst was involved in the events which led up to and defined Viktor Yushchenko’s presidency. Following the Orange Revolution, Ambassador Herbst facilitated funding of objective sources of news in the Ukraine. His efforts led to the United States Agency of International Development funding $2.4 million to be spent in furtherance of the development of mass media in the country.
     Ambassador Herbst assumed the position of Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization in the summer of 2006. During his tenure, Herbst launched the Civilian Response Corps, grew its ranks to over 1,000, and oversaw their missions in countries that include Sudan, Chad, Haiti, Lebanon, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.^[3] Under Ambassador Herbst’s direction the Civilian Response Corps and the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization supported over 20 U.S. Embassies.
     In July 2010, Herbst was appointed Director of the National Defense University Center for Complex Operations. As Director, Ambassador Herbst is using his 30 years of United States Foreign Service experience to benefit the careers of professionals who will become the next generation of national defense practitioners.
     Herbst received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1974 and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Medford, MA) in 1978. He also attended the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy. Herbst is married to Nadezda Christoff Herbst and has five children.
     This discussion on National Security promises to be a highlight of our season.