Ambassador to India To Rejoin KSG Faculty

The U.S. ambassador to India and a former lecturer at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) announced Monday that he will leave his post in New Delhi this summer and return to Harvard.

Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, who is the Belfer Lecturer in International Security, said he and his wife miss their five children in the United States, and that “Harvard beckons.”

“I will thus join my illustrious colleague, John Kenneth Galbraith, in proudly representing my country for two years as American ambassador to India, and then returning to Harvard to teach and to write,” he said in a press release.

During Blackwill’s two-year tenure, relations between Washington and New Delhi warmed, even as tensions between India and neighboring Pakistan heated up over nuclear proliferation and Kashmir—a region whose control has been disputed by the two nations since the end of colonial rule in 1947.

While Blackwill was serving as ambassador, the U.S. lifted sanctions against India, which were imposed by the Clinton administration in 1998 after India tested its first nuclear weapon.

Blackwill also took credit for increased engagement between the two countries, including joint military exercises and cooperation on a host of other issues.

“It was rare for members of a president’s cabinet and senior American officials to visit India,” he said in the press release. “Almost a hundred have come in the past two years.”

Ashton B. Carter, Ford Foundation professor of science and international affairs at the KSG, said Blackwill did a good job ensuring that India’s interests were heard in Washington.

“I think that despite the fact that [Sept. 11] caused the U.S. to pay more attention to Pakistan than to India during this period, Blackwill made sure that the balance didn’t tip too far,” Carter said.

Blackwill’s tour saw tensions rise between India and Pakistan over Kashmir last summer, when India blamed Pakistan for supporting terrorist attacks against Indians in that region.

It was widely feared that any potential conflict between the two countries would quickly turn nuclear, and observers have credited U.S. officials for encouraging a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

In the press release announcing his resignation, Blackwill was unequivocal in his condemnation of terrorism against India.

“As I have said many times during my stay in India, the fight against international terrorism will not be won until terrorism against India ends permanently,” he said.

Last May, Blackwill found himself at the center of a controversy over a reported internal investigation by the U.S. Department of State into low morale at his embassy—and what some considered to be Blackwill’s abrasive management style.

Speculation was rife that his resignation was close, prompting the State Department to defend him in public, and Blackwill remained in his post a year longer.

Carter said he expected Blackwill—who has been on a leave of absence from the KSG since he began his tenure as ambassador in July 2001—to resume teaching courses in international security, “and now with some particular emphasis in Asia, since he’s been there and developed some expertise.”

“He’s a gifted teacher,” Carter added. “We’re happy to have him back.”

In addition to teaching, Blackwill previously served as an associate dean and faculty chair of a KSG program for U.S. and Russian general officers.

Blackwill spent 22 years as a foreign service officer before coming to the Kennedy School and served as special assistant to former President George H.W. Bush for European and Soviet affairs from 1989-1990.

He advised then-Texas Governor George W. Bush on foreign policy during the 2000 presidential campaign.

—Staff writer William C. Martin can be reached at wmartin@fas.harvard.edu.