Strobe Talbott

Nelson Strobridge "Strobe" Talbott III (born April 25, 1946) is an American foreign policy analyst associated with Yale University and the Brookings Institution, a former journalist associated with Time magazine, and a diplomat who served as the Deputy Secretary of State from 1994 to 2001. He was president of Brookings from 2002 to 2017.

Strobe Talbott
12th United States Deputy Secretary of State
In office
February 23, 1994 – January 19, 2001
PresidentBill Clinton
Preceded byClifton R. Wharton Jr.
Succeeded byRichard Armitage
Personal details
Born
Nelson Strobridge Talbott III

(1946-04-25) April 25, 1946
Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Barbara Lazear Ascher[1]
EducationYale University (BA)
Magdalen College, Oxford (MLitt)

Early life

Talbott was born in Dayton, Ohio, to Helen Josephine (Large) and Nelson Strobridge "Bud" Talbott II.[2] He attended the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut and graduated in 1968 from Yale University, where he had been chairman of the Yale Daily News, a position whose previous incumbents include Henry Luce, William F. Buckley, and Joe Lieberman. He was also a member of the Scholar of the House program in 1967–68, and belonged to a society of juniors and seniors called Saint Anthony Hall. He became friends with future President Bill Clinton when both were Rhodes Scholars at the University of Oxford;[3] during his studies there he translated Nikita Khrushchev's memoirs into English.[3]

Career
Talbott with George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece, 2009

In 1972, Talbott, along with his friends Robert Reich (a fellow Rhodes Scholar) and David E. Kendall, rallied to his friends Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton to help them in their Texas campaign to elect George McGovern president of the United States. In the 1980s, he was Time's principal correspondent on Soviet-American relations, and his work for the magazine was cited in the three Overseas Press Club Awards won by Time in the 1980s.[4] Talbott also wrote several books on disarmament.

Following Bill Clinton's election as president, Talbott was invited into government where he served at first managing the consequences of the Soviet breakup as Ambassador-at-Large and Special Adviser to the Secretary of State Warren Christopher on the New Independent States. After leaving government, he was for a period Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.[5]

Talbott was the sixth president of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., from 2002 to 2017.[6] At Brookings, he was responsible for formulating and setting policies, recommending projects, approving publications and selecting staff. He brings to Brookings the experience of his careers spanning journalism, government service and academe, and his expertise in US foreign policy[7] with specialties on Europe, Russia,[8] South Asia and nuclear arms control.[9] On January 31, 2017, Talbott announced his resignation from the Brookings Institution. The resignation was later retracted, but in October he was succeeded by General John R. Allen.[10][6]

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[11] Talbott currently also sits on the DC non-profit America Abroad Media's advisory board.[12]

Controversy
Talbott with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev whilst the latter was on a visit to the United States in April 2010.
Talbott with Secretary of State John Kerry in March 2016

The former Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) operative Sergei Tretyakov said that SVR considered Talbott a source of intelligence information and classified him as "a special unofficial contact," even though "he was not a Russian spy."[13] The allegations center on Talbott's relationship with Russia's ambassador to Canada, Georgiy Mamedov, who was a longtime SVR "co-optee," according to Tretyakov. Mamedov called the allegations "blatant lies."[13] Talbott also rejected the accusations, calling them "erroneous and/or misleading in several fundamental aspects..."[14] and said that his meetings with Mamedov advanced US objectives, such as getting Russia to accept NATO enlargement and helping to end the Kosovo War.[13]

Family

He married Brooke Shearer in 1971. Talbott was roommate with her brother, Derek.[15] Brooke, who was Talbott's wife of 38 years, died on May 19, 2009.[16] He has two sons, Devin and Adrian, co-founders of Generation Engage.[17] In 2015, he married the author Barbara Lazear Ascher.[18]

Quotes
  • "In the next century, nations as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single, global authority. National sovereignty wasn't such a great idea after all." (Time)[19]
  • "The Russians have provided an opening for renewed diplomacy. Since last summer, President Dmitry Medvedev has been calling for a 'new Euro-Atlantic security architecture'. So far, except for rehashing old complaints and the unacceptable claim that other former Soviet republics fall within Russia's 'sphere of privileged interests', Mr Medvedev and Mr Lavrov have been vague about what they have in mind.
"That creates a vacuum that the United States and its European partners can fill with their own proposals. The theme of those should be accelerating the emergence of an international system (of which NATO is a part) that is prepared to include Russia rather than exclude or contain it, and to encourage positive forces in Russia that want to see their nation integrated in a globalized world organized around the search for common solutions to common problems." (Financial Times)[20]
  • "We already know that the Kremlin helped put Trump into the White House and played him for a sucker…. Trump has been colluding with a hostile Russia throughout his presidency."[21]

Honors and awards

Talbott is an Honorary Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.[22]

References
  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/style/barbara-ascher-and-strobe-talbott.html
  2. Contemporary Authors. May 2003. ISBN 9780787651961.
  3. Cornwell, Rupert (8 January 1994). "Strobe lights up the world stage for his friend Bill..." London: The Independent. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  4. "Yale Lecture Series: Putin's Path: Russian Foreign Policy Since 9/11". Archived from the original on 31 January 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  5. "Talbott to leave for Washington". Yale Daily News. 25 January 2002. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  6. "John R. Allen named next Brookings Institution president". Brookings Institution. October 4, 2017.
  7. "Spiegel interview with Strobe Talbott..." Der Spiegel. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  8. Schmitt, Eric (24 September 1999). "State Dept. Expert Upbeat About Russian Fund Case". New York Times. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  9. "Strobe Talbott: "Not clear what Russia is going to do next"". Georgian Times. 26 August 2008. Archived from the original on 4 September 2008. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  10. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brookings-now/2017/01/31/strobe-talbott-to-step-down-from-the-brookings-institution/ Strobe Talbott to step down from the Brookings Institution
  11. "Membership Roster". Council on Foreign Relations.
  12. "Strobe Talbott".
  13. Pete Earley Comrade J, Putnam Adult, January 24, 2008
  14. Stein, Jeff (2008-01-19). "Top U.N. Nuclear Watchdog a Russian Spy, Defector Says in New Book". Congressional Quarterly. Archived from the original on 2008-01-20. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  15. "Brooke Shearer dies at 58; former journalist, personal aide to Hillary Clinton." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on August 6, 2014.
  16. Smith, Ben (May 19, 2009). "Brooke Shearer, R.I.P." Politico.
  17. Rothstein, Betsy (December 13, 2005). "Political engagement: the next generation". The Hill.
  18. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/style/barbara-ascher-and-strobe-talbott.html
  19. Talbott, Strobe (20 July 1992). "America Abroad: The Birth of the Global Nation". TIME.com.
  20. "A Russian 'reset button' based on inclusion". Financial Times. 2009-02-23.
  21. "Anti-Trump Frenzy Threatens to End Superpower Diplomacy". The Nation. January 16, 2019.
  22. "People at Magdalen - Magdalen College Oxford".

Sources
Political offices
Preceded by
Clifton R. Wharton Jr.		 United States Deputy Secretary of State
1994–2001		 Succeeded by
Richard Armitage
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
Michael Armacost		 President of the Brookings Institution
2002–2017		 Succeeded by
John R. Allen
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