James W. Pardew

JAMES W. PARDEW

-Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operations, NATO International Staff, from August 2005 to August 2008, during NATO operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and the NATO training mission in Iraq.

-U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria, 2002-2005, when Bulgaria was admitted to NATO and completed its accession negotiations for European Union membership.

-U.S. negotiator of the Ohrid Agreement which prevented a civil war in Macedonia, 2001.

-Deputy Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State for Democracy in the Balkans during the conflict in Kosovo and subsequent peace implementation, 1999-2001.

=Director, U.S. Military Train and Equip Program for Bosnia, Department of State, 1996-1999; Appointment to the rank of Ambassador, August 1997.

-Secretary of Defense representative to Richard Holbrooke’s negotiating team which concluded the Dayton Peace Agreement ending the war in Bosnia, 1995.

-Military service: Vice Director for Intelligence, J-2, Joint Staff; Director of Foreign Intelligence and Chief of Current Intelligence, Army General Staff during the collapse of the Soviet Union and the first U.S. war with Iraq. Active duty service abroad in the U.S. Army included assignments in Germany, Turkey, and Japan; combat tours in Vietnam and Operation Restore Hope in Somalia.

-Author of Peacemakers: American Leadership and the End of Genocide in the Balkans, published in January 2018.

-Member, Council on Foreign Relations.

Awards: Department of State Distinguished Honor Award, the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service, and the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal. Military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (2), Bronze Star (2), and Air Medal. Awarded the Stara Planina Medal by the President of Bulgaria.

A native of Arkansas, Pardew is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. He holds a M.A. in political science (international relations) from Loyola University of Chicago and a B.S. in journalism from Arkansas State University. He and his wife Kathy have three sons.