NEW@IPF
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January 12, 2012
The views shared on The Mideast Peace Pulse are those of the author(s) and not those of Israel Policy Forum.
Edward S. Walker
Ambassador Edward S. Walker, Jr. sits on the U.S. Advisory Council of Israel Policy Forum. He is former assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, former Ambassador to Israel, Egypt, and the U.A.E., and Deputy Permanent Representative of the U.S. to the U.N. with Ambassadorial Rank.
Edward Walker received his B.A. from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York in 1963 and his M.A. from Boston University in 1965. In 1985, he attended the Royal College of Defense Studies in London. In 1962, Walker enlisted in the U.S. Army and served 3 years in Heidelberg, Germany.
Amb. Walker is an Adjunct Scholar at the Middle East Institute's public policy center. He also served as MEI's President and CEO for over five years, from 2001 until August 2006.
In the course of his career, Mr. Walker worked with every Israeli Prime Minister since Golda Meir, Presidents Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Presidents Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad of Syria, King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and Kings Hussein and Abdullah of Jordon, among others. During his time as Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Walker worked closely with Prime Minister Netanyahu in preparation for and during the Wey negotiations. He started the negotiations with Libya which led to Libya's decision to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs, pay almost $3 billion in compensation to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772.[1] In Egypt he worked with Vice President Al Gore and President Hosni Mubarak on a major initiative to reform the Egyptian economy. Mr. Walker also worked with American and Egyptian intelligence officials to counter the terrorist threat facing that country.
Mr. Walker previously worked with Colin Powell in the George W. Bush Administration as assistant secretary of state for Near-Eastern affairs, a position he had previously held under Madeleine Albright during the second Clinton administration. During that time he helped initiate and negotiate U.S. policy toward Iraq and engaged in recalibrating U.S. policies toward Iran and the Middle East peace process.
Currently Mr. Walker holds the Christian A. Johnson Distinguished Professorship in Global Political Theory at Hamilton College. He formerly served as the Linowitz Professor of Middle East Studies in 2003 and 2005.