Robert Alan Pastor (April 10, 1947 – January 8, 2014) was a member of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

staff and a writer on foreign affairs.

Education

Pastor earned his bachelor's degree in history from

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

and a Masters of Public Administration and Policy (MPA), with a concentration in International Economics from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He also holds a PhD from Harvard in the field of political science. He served in the US

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

where he learned Malay/ Indonesian. He also was a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Professor at

El Colegio de México El Colegio de México, A.C. (commonly known as Colmex, English: The College of Mexico) is a Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in social sciences and humanities. The college was founded in 1940 by the Me ...

in Mexico where he taught courses on

U.S. Foreign Policy The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...

Personal life

Pastor was married to the former Margaret McNamara, daughter of former Secretary of Defense

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...

, with whom he had two children. He lived in Washington, D.C. He died of

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

in 2014.

Work history

Pastor was a member of the National Security Council Staff with a portfolio that included Latin America and the Caribbean during the administration of President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

from 1977 to 1981. Pastor was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

in 1994 to serve as the Ambassador to Panama. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved his nomination by a vote of 16–3, but Senator

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the Conservatism in the United States, conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the ...

prevented the full Senate from voting. After the Republicans won control of the Senate in November 1994, Helms became chairman of the committee and refused to permit a vote on Pastor, who then requested for Clinton to withdraw his nomination. The main reason that Helms opposed the nomination was that he held Pastor accountable for negotiating the Panama Canal Treaties. He served as a Senior Fellow at the

Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidential ele ...

, where he established the programs on Latin America and the Caribbean, democracy and election-monitoring, and Chinese village elections. He was also Goodrich C. White Professor of Political Science at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

. Pastor was Vice President of International Affairs at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

in Washington, D.C. from September 2002-December 2007. There, he helped establish the American University of Nigeria, transformed and expanded the study abroad program and introduced the "Abroad at AU" program, bringing students from around the world to study for a semester or year at AU. He also founded and headed the university's Center for Democracy and Election Management, and the Center for North American Studies and was executive director of the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform. In 2003, Pastor was elected to the

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Lyndon ...

National Governing Board. Pastor was Vice Chair of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America, sponsored by the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

in association with the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations (''Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales'') and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.

North American Community

Pastor's advocacy of North American integration has been the subject of heated controversy, with criticisms from the left and the right. Pastor proposed a North American Community, "whose premise is that all three sovereign countries benefit when each of the countries makes progress, and all suffer when one fails". Pastor is featured in the 2010 Canadian documentary film '' Water On The Table'', in which he refers to the

North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (, TLCAN; , ALÉNA), referred to colloquially in the Anglosphere as NAFTA, ( ) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The ...

(NAFTA) and debates

water rights Water right in water law is the right of a user to use water from a water source, e.g., a river, stream, pond or source of groundwater. In areas with plentiful water and few users, such systems are generally not complicated or contentious. In o ...

issues.

Published works

He is well-published on US foreign policy, having written or edited 17 books, including "The North American Idea: A Vision of a Continental Future,"''Exiting the Whirlpool: US Foreign Policy Toward Latin America and the Caribbean'', ''Democracy in the Caribbean: Political, Economic and Social Perspectives'' and ''Limits to Friendship: The United States and Mexico''. Pastor has published extensively his theories of a North American Community, including ''Toward a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World to the New''. Through the Independent Task Force on North America he has released the reports ''Building a North American Community'' and "Creating a North American Community", both released in 2005.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pastor, Robert 1947 births 2014 deaths Writers from Newark, New Jersey Lafayette College alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni American University faculty Academic staff of El Colegio de México Emory University faculty United States national security advisors Writers from Washington, D.C. Deaths from colorectal cancer in Washington, D.C.