Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO Robert E. Hunter will join the GW political science department as an adjunct professor next fall and teach a graduate political science course.
Hunter, who served as NATO ambassador from 1993 to 1998, will teach Political Science 248, a course on Politics of U.S. National Security Policy.
He has a lot of experience, but not just as a practitioner, but he’s also got an analytic mind because he has a lot of hands-on knowledge, said Jeffrey Henig, chairman of the political science department.
Hunter serves as a senior adviser to the RAND Corporation, a research institution that is most famous for its work with the U.S. Air Force and Navy. The corporation was instrumental in creating strategic doctrines during the Cold War.
At RAND, he focuses on both European policy as well as issues in global involvement. In the past, Hunter has taught at the London School of Economics, Washington College (Mo.) and Georgetown University.
Hunter said he felt his expertise could be helpful in the course.
It’s not a memoir, but I hope my experience can shed some light on what we consider, Hunter said.
Hunter has worked in Washington, D.C., for more than 30 years and has worked for the Kennedy, Johnson and Carter administrations as a member of the National Security Council. He has also worked for Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.)
A graduate of Wesleyan University, Hunter went on to earn his doctorate from the London School of Economics.
As the NATO ambassador, he faced several challenges. His term was particularly critical because it came following the end of the Cold War.
It was a lot of fun, Hunter said. I had a marvelous team, and we had a critical role in remaking NATO. Hunter also needed to deal with conflicts like the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.
I think mobilizing to bring the war to a halt in Bosnia was (the biggest challenge), Hunter said.
According to a University press release, Hunter joins a number of current and former ambassadors on GW’s faculty, including James Sasser, former U.S. ambassador to China, Ron Palmer, former U.S. ambassador to Malaysia and Mauritius and Tom McDonald, current U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe.
Hunter has not ruled out continuing as a GW professor after the fall semester.
If it’s fun, I’d love to do it again, he said.
In addition to his work at RAND, Hunter is the vice president of the Atlantic Treaty Association, an umbrella group for both NATO and Partnership for Peace Countries, as well as a member of Defense Secretary William Cohen’s Defense Policy Board, according to the press release.
He typifies a knowledge both analytic and hands-on to put a frame on (the course), Henig said.
