Robert Dean Blackwill (born August 8, 1939)[1] is a retired American diplomat, author, senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations,[2] and lobbyist.
[3] In June 2001, at a Senate confirmation hearings to become ambassador to India, he said, "From my boyhood on the Great Plains, I brought back east more than 30 years ago the values of Kansas and its people: honesty, candor, compassion, hard work, a dogged stamina in the face of challenge and adversity, a sense of humor, a recognition of one's own limitations, and a deep and abiding love of country.
[1] While he was a special assistant, Blackwill worked closely with Paul Bremer, who was then a chief aide to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
[1] After his return from a two-year sabbatical at Harvard University, President Ronald Reagan nominated him to Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor on March 29, 1985, and designated him to be the chief negotiator[4] of the US with the Warsaw Pact for the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions talks.
[4] From 1983 to 1985, Blackwill took a sabbatical from the State Department and served as associate dean and faculty member[4] at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He was also faculty chair for executive training programs for business and government leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Palestinian Authority, and Kazakhstan, as well as military General Officers from Russia and the People's Republic of China.
[10] In 2024, Blackwill released "Lost Decade: The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power" with co-author Richard Fontaine.
[3] Rice had previously worked for Blackwill during the first Bush administration when they dealt with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Soviet empire.
[3] To promote closer ties, the United States lifted economic penalties applied against India after its 1998 nuclear tests.
[16] Muslims protestors belonging to Islamic fundamentalist organizations, Majlis Bachao Tehreek and Tahaffuz-e-Shayar-Islami attacked Blackwill's convoy when it was proceeding towards Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad.
[5] Upon his departure as ambassador, Blackwill wrote in an article for the Financial Times called "What India Means To Me" writing: As has been said, the world is divided into two parts —those who have seen the Taj Mahal, and those who have not.
'[5]Upon returning to the United States, the only item on Blackwill's desk at the National Security Council was a tiny figurine of Ganesh, the Hindu elephant-headed god of wisdom and success while a huge map of "Mother India" adorned the walls of his office.
[3] Historian Ramachandra Guha quoted him saying, "India is a pluralist society that creates magic with democracy, rule of law and individual freedom, community relations and [cultural] diversity.
"[3] Upon completing his time as ambassador to India, Blackwill was originally planning to return to Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government until he got the call from National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice asking him to come to Washington.
[3] On August 16, 2003, Blackwill was appointed deputy assistant to President George W. Bush as well as coordinator for strategic planning under Rice.
[3] One of Blackwill's jobs on the National Security Council in 2003 was to coordinate between Washington and Baghdad working with Paul Bremer to achieve a political handover to Iraq.
"[7] Bob Woodward in his book State of Denial reports that in 2003 Blackwill sent a lengthy memorandum to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice warning that more ground troops, perhaps as many as 40,000, were desperately needed in Iraq.
[20] Woodward reports that Blackwill and Bremer later briefed Rice and her deputy Stephen J. Hadley about the pressing need for more troops during a secure teleconference from Iraq, but that the White House did nothing in response.
[21] On November 12, 2004, Glenn Kessler and Al Kamen reported in The Washington Post that Condoleezza Rice had interviewed Blackwill and taken action to ensure that he dealt with his colleagues and subordinates appropriately after reports in September 2004 that he appeared to have verbally abused and physically hurt a female embassy staffer during a visit to Kuwait.
[22] The incident took place when Blackwill was returning from a visit to Baghdad and arrived at the Air France counter at the Kuwait airport to learn he was not on the flight manifest.
[22] Blackwill turned in fury to an embassy secretary and demanded that he be given a seat on the flight, grabbing her arm at one point, an official said.
[22] "Ambassador Blackwill has served the country with great distinction, including intense and dangerous situations in Iraq", the NSC spokesman said.
[10] On October 29, 2007, the New York Times disclosed that lobbying disclosure reports at the Justice Department show that Mr. Blackwill helped bring in more than $11 million in fees from foreign clients since late 2005.
"[25] On August 31, 2005, the Daily Times of Pakistan reported that Barbour, Griffith, and Rogers had won a contract to help get an Indo-US nuclear deal through Congress.
[26] On December 27, 2007, the Daily Times of Pakistan published a story saying that Blackwill was on the payroll of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman providing lobbying services for them for large defense contracts from the Indian government.
[28] On August 28, 2007, Newsweek reported that Blackwill was handling the $300,000 lobbying contract at Barbour Griffith & Rogers International to destabilize Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and replace him with the firm's new client, Ayad Allawi.
[23] On the evening of 19 September 2006, while Thaksin was visiting New York City, to attend a United Nations summit and to speak at the Council on Foreign Relations, the army took control of Bangkok.
[23] Blackwill's firm previously had lobbying contracts, now expired, with the secular National Dialogue Party of Lebanon, the Confederation of Indian Industry, Dubai International Capital (the private equity firm of Dubai's ruler, Sheik Muhammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum), and Eritrea, a nation the State Department has been threatening to designate a terrorist state.
[23] On April 19, 2008, The Times of India reported that Blackwill was leaving the lobbying firm of Barbour Griffiths Rogers International to go to work as a senior fellow at RAND Corporation, one of the United States' premier think tanks.
[30] "I now feel the compelling need for sustained time to reflect and write about America's role in the world in this difficult and dangerous period.