Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world
James Dobbins; Director of RAND?s International Security
The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs is proud to host a Fellows/Student Session with James Dobbins, Director of RAND’s International Security and Defense Policy Center. He will give a few brief comments on his recent piece in Foreign Affairs, “Iraq: Winning the Unwinnable War.”, and then will open it up for questions and answers. (Please see attached link to the article below).
Prior to directing RAND’s International Security and Defense Policy Center, Ambassador Dobbins has held State Department and White House posts including Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Special Assistant to the President for the Western Hemisphere, Special Adviser to the President and Secretary of State for the Balkans, and Ambassador to the European Community. He has handled a variety of crisis management assignments as the Clinton Administration’s special envoy for Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo, and the Bush Administration’s first special envoy for Afghanistan. He is principal author of the two volume RAND History of Nation Building.
In the wake of Sept 11, 2001, Dobbins was designated as the Bush Administration’s representative to the Afghan opposition. Dobbins helped organize and then represented the United States at the Bonn Conference where a new Afghan government was formed. On Dec. 16, 2001, he raised the flag over the newly reopened US Embassy.
Earlier in his State Department career Dobbins served twice as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, as Deputy Chief of Mission in Germany, and as Acting Assistant Secretary for Europe.