Biography

U.S. Ambassador to NATO under President Clinton and US representative to the Western European Union; principal architect of the "New NATO," leading the North Atlantic Council in implementing decisions of the 1994 and 1997 NATO Summits and in obtaining air-strike decisions that halted the Bosnia war. Member of Secretary Cohen's Defense Policy Board. Director of West European Affairs and later Director of Middle East Affairs on the National Security Council during the Carter administration, and a principal author of the Carter Doctrine for the Persian Gulf. Foreign policy advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy and foreign and domestic policy advisor to Vice President Humphrey. Served on White House staff in the Johnson administration and in the U.S. Department of the Navy on the Polaris project. Senior Fellow at Overseas Development Council, Research Associate, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Professorial Lecturer at London School of Economics, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins (SAIS) and George Washington University.

Biography

From July 1993 to January 1998, Hunter served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO, and represented the United States to the Western European Union. He was a principal architect of the "New NATO" and a key leader on the North Atlantic Council in implementing decisions of the 1994 and 1997 NATO Summits. Hunter led the Council in obtaining nine air-strike decisions for Bosnia and secured NATO approval for both the Implementation Force and the Stabilization Force. He was twice recipient of the Pentagon's highest civilian decoration, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, from Secretaries Perry and Cohen.

Prior to his appointment to NATO, Hunter was Vice President for International Politics, Director of European Studies, and Senior Fellow in Middle East Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. In 1983–1984, he also served as Special Advisor on Lebanon to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Lead Consultant to the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America (the Kissinger Commission). He was cofounder of the Center for National Policy and an organizer of the National Endowment for Democracy. He has served as senior policy advisor in nine U.S. presidential campaigns between 1964 and 2008. Throughout the Carter administration, Hunter served on the National Security Council staff, first as Director of West European Affairs and then as Director of Middle East Affairs.