Ex-envoy in Turkey joins think tank

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

‘I’m delighted to join an outstanding team of Middle East experts,’ Jeffrey says. Hürriyet photo

Jim Jeffrey, an ex-ambassador to Ankara and Baghdad, has joined the Washington Institute for Near East Policy as a visiting fellow, the think tank announced Sept. 4.

At the institute, Jeffrey will focus his research and writing on U.S. strategies to counter Iran’s efforts to expand its influence in the broader Middle East, it said.

“We are thrilled to welcome a foreign policy practitioner who combines a broad strategic understanding of the Middle East with unsurpassed experience in the field,” said Washington Institute executive director Robert Satloff. “Ambassador Jeffrey’s presence will inform and enrich our work as we confront the dramatic changes sweeping the region.”

One of the nation’s most respected diplomats, Jeffrey has held a series of highly sensitive posts in Washington and abroad. In addition to his service in Ankara and Baghdad, he served as assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor in ex-President George W. Bush’s administration, with a special focus on Iran.

Previously, at the State Department, he served as principal deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, where his responsibilities included leading the Iran policy team and coordinating public diplomacy. Earlier appointments included service as senior advisor on Iraq to the secretary of state; chargé d’affaires and deputy chief of mission in Baghdad; deputy chief of mission in Ankara, as well as ambassador to Albania.

“I am delighted to join this outstanding team of Middle East experts and foreign policy practitioners,” Jeffrey said. “Helping the foreign policy community to understand the Iranian challenge and devise new approaches is a vital national security priority, and I look forward to contributing to that effort.”

A former infantry officer in the U.S. Army, Jeffrey served in Germany and Vietnam from 1969 to 1976. He received his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University and his master’s degree from Boston University.

The Washington Institute says it is an independent, nonpartisan research institution “that advances a balanced and realistic understanding of U.S. interests in the broader Middle East.”