Toby T. Gati
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Toby Trister Gati (born 1946) was the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research The assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research is the head of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) within the United States Department of State. Before 1986, the head of INR was the director of the Bureau of Intelligenc ...
from 1993 to 1997.


Early life

Toby T. Gati was born in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
into a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family originally from
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.


Education

Toby T. Gati was educated at
Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
, receiving a
B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
in
Russian Literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...
and Language in 1967. She then attended
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, receiving an
M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in 1970,
Master of International Affairs A Master of International Affairs (MIA) is a professional master's degree in international affairs. Subject matter Details can vary between degree-granting institutions, but such a degree typically includes these core courses: * Forms of gover ...
in 1972, and a certificate from the
Harriman Institute The Harriman Institute, the first academic center in the United States devoted to the interdisciplinary study of Russia and the Soviet Union, was founded at Columbia University in 1946, with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, as the Russi ...
. She was hired as researcher and became director of the Parallel Studies project in 1974.


Career

A Russian expert, Gati published several articles on the politics and foreign policy of the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and the Russian Federation and on U.S.–Russian relations. She was Senior Vice President of the
United Nations Association of the United States of America The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) is the official United Nations Association of the United States, a nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to promoting political and public support for the United Natio ...
and in this capacity oversaw the organization's research on international political, economic and security issues. In January 1993, Gati became a
Special Assistant to the President Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces Mi ...
and Senior Director for
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
, and the Eurasian States at the
United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and Foreign relations of the United States, foreign policy matter ...
. She left this position in June 1993.
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
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, ...
then nominated Gati as
Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research The assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research is the head of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) within the United States Department of State. Before 1986, the head of INR was the director of the Bureau of Intelligenc ...
and Gati held this office from November 5, 1993 until May 31, 1997. On May 18, 1994, she penned a memorandum about the
Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...
, and addressed whether the U.S. government should describe the events in Rwanda as a genocide or not. The memo "paved the way for a major switch in U.S. government policy." Later, Gati told former US ambassador,
Samantha Power Samantha Jane Power (born September 21, 1970) is an Irish-American journalist, diplomat, and government official who served as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development from 2021 to 2025. She was the 28th Unite ...
, in relation to the
Srebrenica massacre The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, was the July 1995 genocidal killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys in and around the town of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War. It was mainly perpetrated by unit ...
, "Ethnic cleansing was not a priority of our policy. When you make an original decision you are not going to respond, then I’m sorry, these things are going to happen." In April 2000, Gati stated that
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 ...
and her subordinates did not care "a whit about Intelligence and Research, nor have they made much use of its full potential." The previous year she had told journalist Michael Dobbs, for his biography on Albright, that Albright "could not stand doing nothing on Bosnia. She was like a horse at the bit all the time. She kept on saying, ‘We have to do more.’" Since leaving government service, Gati has worked as a consultant with
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP (known as Akin Gump or Akin) is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is the second-largest lobbying firm in the United States by revenue. History The firm was founded in Dal ...
, an international law firm. Since 2016, she has been a President of TTG Global LLC. She was also an independent board member at Lukoil. She resigned from the board following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
. She later told the
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
that "it is not possible to isolate Russia forever" and added that when the war ends, there will be more engagement with Russia, including Lukoil, but "not now." Since 2016, she has served as a director/trustee of the School of Civic Education in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. The School was originally founded as the School of Political Studies in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in 1992, which led to a proliferation of such schools across Central and Eastern Europe. These formed into an Association of Schools of Political Studies to train future generations of political, economic, social and cultural leaders in countries in transition, under the auspices of the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
, where it comes under the Education Department of the Directorate of Democratic Participation within the Directorate General of Democracy (“DGII”) of the Council of Europe. In 2017, she defended
Victoria Nuland Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2021 to 2024. A former member of the US Foreign Service, she served as Assistant Secretary of State for European an ...
as expressing frustration with the European Union, suggested that for Nuland to be caught in secret surveillance it "calls for some new communications equipment" and said that the tape shows that the U.S. is "using its leverage and getting involved" in the Ukraine crisis.


Personal life

She met Charles Gati while she was a visiting fellow at the Brzezinski Institute, and said that she, and Charles, considered
Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński (, ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), known as Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was Jimmy Carter's National Securi ...
the "godfather of our meeting." Later they became a couple and married. They had one child.


References


External links


Archives State Department bioProfile from Akin Gump
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gati, Toby T. United States assistant secretaries of state Living people Pennsylvania State University alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni United States National Security Council staffers Clinton administration personnel 1946 births Assistant secretaries of state for intelligence and research