U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation
In office September 5, 2018 – October 18, 2021
President
Donald Trump Joe Biden
Preceded by
Position established
Succeeded by
Thomas West[1]
26th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
In office April 30, 2007 – January 22, 2009
President
George W. Bush Barack Obama
Preceded by
John Bolton
Succeeded by
Susan Rice
United States Ambassador to Iraq
In office June 21, 2005 – March 26, 2007
President
George W. Bush
Preceded by
John Negroponte
Succeeded by
Ryan Crocker
United States Ambassador to Afghanistan
In office September 2, 2004 – June 20, 2005
President
George W. Bush
Preceded by
Robert Finn
Succeeded by
Ronald E. Neumann
Personal details
Born
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad
(1951-03-22) March 22, 1951 (age 73) Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan
Spouse
Cheryl Benard
Children
2
Education
American 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]
^Marquardt, Alex; LeBlanc, Paul (October 19, 2021). "US envoy for Afghanistan steps down following chaotic evacuation". CNN. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
^Crowley, Michael (October 18, 2021). "Zalmay Khalilzad, Biden's Envoy for Afghanistan, Steps Down". The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
^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.
^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.
^The Editorial Board (November 14, 2016). "Donald Trump Is Now Hiring". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
^Brennan, Margaret (October 18, 2021). "U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad resigns". CBS News.
^"Zalmay Khalilzad, Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on November 22, 2018.
^"Biden administration asks US negotiator with Taliban to stay on". Al Jazeera. January 28, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
^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.
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (Pashto: زلمی خلیل زاد, Dari: زلمی خلیلزاد; born March 22, 1951) is an American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad...
Russian Federation Zalmay A. Gulzad, professor, author, lecturer and researcher into contemporary Afghan politics ZalmayKhalilzad (born 1951), counselor...
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mid-October 2018. Washington special envoy ZalmayKhalilzad said that he had asked Pakistan to release him, as Khalilzad believed Baradar could help in the Afghan...
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October 2021 that President Joe Biden's top diplomat for Afghanistan, ZalmayKhalilzad, was stepping down, Bill Roggio of the FDD said, "It is about time...
traditional Islam after the assassination of his cousin Malcolm X. ZalmayKhalilzad – former US Ambassador to the United Nations; former U.S. Ambassador...
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International and Public Affairs. At Columbia, Rubin was a student of ZalmayKhalilzad, later U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations...
end to the 2001–2021 war in Afghanistan. Negotiated for the US by ZalmayKhalilzad for the Trump Administration, the agreement did not involve the then...
Joshua Muravchik Jennifer Rubin Ben Shapiro Irwin Stelzer Bret Stephens ZalmayKhalilzad Scooter Libby Yuval Levin Michael Ledeen James Kirchick Michael Gerson...
negotiations between Iranian officials and US ambassador to Iraq, ZalmayKhalilzad". Prior to the Iraq War, Ghorbanifar had passed allegations to the...
Friedberg Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney Fred C. Ikle Donald Kagan ZalmayKhalilzad, Ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-2005), Ambassador to Iraq (2005-2007)...
still left, we will definitely arrest him." In his social media posts, ZalmayKhalilzad expressed the opinion that "Army Chief Munir needs to resign, and elections...
President Barack Obama Deputy Brooke Anderson Rosemary DiCarlo Preceded by ZalmayKhalilzad Succeeded by Samantha Power 12th Assistant Secretary of State for African...
exhaustively searched through all our records." Lane however did say that ZalmayKhalilzad, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, was a Unocal...
educated many of the former and current elite in Afghanistan, including ZalmayKhalilzad. It was founded by King Amanullah Khan in 1928. It is situated in the...
Crocker as the new American ambassador to Iraq, replacing ZalmayKhalilzad, once that Khalilzad's confirmation to the post of ambassador to the UN was complete...
late 20th century to place less emphasis on educational attainment. ZalmayKhalilzad – U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2007 to 2009 Ashraf Ghani...
the Indian Ocean. One of the consultants to Unocal at that time was ZalmayKhalilzad, former US ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United Nations...
Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation (SRAR). Ambassador ZalmayKhalilzad was appointed to the position in September 2018, and stepped down following...
of the Taliban's political office in Doha. Washington special envoy ZalmayKhalilzad claimed that Baradar was released at the request of the United States...
to U.S. government in 1969 recommending withdrawal from Vietnam war ZalmayKhalilzad: U.S. ambassador to United Nations Henry Kissinger: United States Secretary...
by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, was challenged by US Ambassador ZalmayKhalilzad, who blocked the demolition on 21 February. The government of Iraq...
Joshua Muravchik Jennifer Rubin Ben Shapiro Irwin Stelzer Bret Stephens ZalmayKhalilzad Scooter Libby Yuval Levin Michael Ledeen James Kirchick Michael Gerson...
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