James William Pardew Jr.[2] (February 5, 1944 – June 2, 2021) was an American diplomat, international negotiator, military officer, and United States Ambassador to Bulgaria.

He graduated from Nettleton High School in 1962 and attended Arkansas State University, where he was a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps.

[7] Pardew participated in the negotiating process led by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke from his appointment until the parties reached an agreement at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio in November 1995.

He participated in the international signing ceremony of the Dayton Agreement, hosted by President Jacques Chirac of France in Paris on December 14, 1995, as the representative of the Secretary of Defense.

From 1999 to 2001, Pardew was the Deputy Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State for Democracy in the Balkans during the NATO conflict in Kosovo and the subsequent peace settlement.

Secretary of State Powell dispatched Ambassador Pardew to Macedonia in the early summer of 2001 to seek a solution to an ethnic conflict with the potential to escalate into a full-scale civil war with consequences for the entire region.

After weeks of negotiations in Skopje and at the Presidential retreat on Lake Ohrid, the parties agreed to the Framework Agreement for Macedonia.

Based on his extensive background in Balkan conflicts, Pardew also participated as the NATO representative to the Contact Group deliberations, dealing with international policy toward Kosovo.

He also provided NATO input to the United Nations organization which produced the Ahtisaari Plan, eventually resulting in the independence of Kosovo.