Edward S. Walker Jr. (born June 13, 1940) is a former U.S. Ambassador to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, and the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

and is a

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

specialist.

Early life

Walker was born in

Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Abington Township is a Township (Pennsylvania), township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is adjacent to Philadelphia's northern fringe. The population was 58,502 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it ...

. He earned his B.A. at

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

in Clinton, New York, in 1963 and his M.A. from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

in 1965. While in college, he became a member of the Hamilton chapter of

Chi Psi Chi Psi () is a fraternities and sororities, fraternity consisting of active chapters at 34 American colleges and universities. Chi Psi was founded in 1841 at Union College in Schenectady, New York. It was the first Greek-letter organization to b ...

, a chapter which claims four U.S. Ambassadors as alumni (including Ambassador Walker). In 1985, he attended the

Royal College of Defense Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

in London. In 1962, Walker enlisted in the U.S. Army and served 3 years in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Ambassador Edward S. Walker Jr. is an Adjunct Scholar at the

Middle East Institute The Middle East Institute (MEI) is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, D.C., founded in 1946. It seeks to "increase knowledge of the Middle East among the United States citizens and promote a better understan ...

's public policy center. Ambassador Walker served as MEI's President and CEO for over five years, from 2001 until August 2006. Walker's diplomatic career: *

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs The assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs is the head of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the United States Department of State. The assistant secretary guides the operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in vario ...

(2000–2001) *

United States Ambassador to Israel The United States ambassador to Israel is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Israel. Until 1948 the area that is now the state of Israel had been under British administration as part of the ...

(1997–1999) *

United States Ambassador to Egypt This is a list of ambassadors (or other diplomatic representatives) of the United States to Egypt. The United States first established diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1848, when President James K. Polk appointed Daniel Smith McCauley as the ...

(1994–1997) * Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

with Ambassadorial Rank (1993–1994) *

United States Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates The ambassador of the United States to the United Arab Emirates is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Embassy of the United States, Abu Dhabi, U.S. embas ...

(1989–1992). Through the period of the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. *

Deputy Chief of Mission A deputy chief of mission (DCM, in Europe the term deputy head of mission – DHoM or DHM is used instead) is the number-two diplomat assigned to an embassy or other diplomatic mission. The deputy chief of mission is usually considered the second ...

, U.S. Embassy,

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

* Deputy Assistant Secretary in the

Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA), also known as the Bureau of Near East Asian Affairs, is an agency of the Department of State within the United States government that deals with U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic relations with the nati ...

(1988-). * Executive Assistant to the

Deputy Secretary of State The deputy secretary of state of the United States is the principal deputy to the secretary of state. If the secretary of state resigns or dies, the deputy secretary of state becomes acting secretary of state until the president nominates and the ...

(1982–1984) * Special Assistant to the President's Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Negotiations (1979–1981) * Entered the

Foreign Service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

in 1967. In the course of his career, Walker worked with every Israeli Prime Minister since

Golda Meir Golda Meir (; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the prime minister of Israel, serving from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government. Born into a Jewish family in Kyiv, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) ...

, with Presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, with Presidents

Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...

and

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

of Syria, with King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and with Kings Hussein and Abdullah of Jordon, among others. During his time as Ambassador to Israel, Walker worked closely with Prime Minister

Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

in preparation for and during the Wye negotiations. He started the negotiations with

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

which led to Libya's decision to abandon its

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a Biological agent, biological, chemical weapon, chemical, Radiological weapon, radiological, nuclear weapon, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great dam ...

programs and pay almost 3 billion US dollars in compensation to the families of

Pan Am Flight 103 Pan Am Flight 103 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 "Clipper Maid of th ...

as well as

UTA Flight 772 UTA Flight 772 was a scheduled international passenger flight of the French airline Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) operating from Brazzaville in the People's Republic of the Congo, via N'Djamena in Chad, to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris ...

. In Egypt he worked with Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

and President

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...

on a major initiative to reform the Egyptian economy. Walker also worked with US and Egyptian intelligence officials to counter the terrorist threat facing that country. Walker previously worked with

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...

in the new Bush Administration as assistant secretary of state for Near-Eastern affairs, a position he had previously held under

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Körbelová, later Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political science, political scientist who served as the 64th United States Secretary of State, United S ...

during the second Clinton administration. During that time he helped initiate and negotiate U.S. policy toward

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and engaged in recalibrating U.S. policies toward

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and the Middle East peace process. Currently, Edward S. Walker Jr. holds the Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professorship in Global Political Theory at

. He formerly served as the Linowitz Professor of Middle East Studies in 2003 and 2005. During the Fall 2008, he is teaching "Global Challenges" and "Terrorism, Islam and Counter-terrorism". In the spring 2009, he will teach "Democracy, Religion and International Cooperation" and "International Decision-Making."Hamilton Online
Accessed September 6, 2008.

Sources

United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission by Country, 1778-2005

References

External links

* ttp://www.la.utexas.edu/chenry/usme/sp2000/roles/msg00036.html Edward Walker's profile
Edward Walker's articles

U.S. State Department Archives (People)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Edward S. Jr. 1940 births Living people Hamilton College (New York) alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Israel Ambassadors of the United States to the United Arab Emirates Ambassadors of the United States to Egypt Assistant secretaries of state for Near Eastern affairs United States Foreign Service personnel Boston University alumni American expatriates in the United Kingdom American expatriates in Germany American expatriates in Saudi Arabia