Aaron David Miller
Encyclopedia
Aaron David Miller is an American Middle East
analyst, author, and negotiator. He is on the U.S. Advisory Council of Israel Policy Forum, is Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and has been an advisor to six Secretaries of State. Miller worked within the United States Department of State
for twenty four years (1978–2003). Between 1988 and 2003, Miller served six secretaries of state as an advisor on Arab-Israeli negotiations, where he participated in American efforts to broker agreements between Israel
, Jordan
, Syria
, and the Palestinians. He left the Department of State in January 2003 to serve as president of Seeds of Peace
, an international youth organization, founded in 1993. In January 2006, he became a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
in Washington, DC. Miller published his fourth book, The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace, in 2008.
on March 25, 1949, the eldest son of Samuel H. and Ruth Ratner Miller, both known for their civic, political and philanthropic work in the Jewish community and beyond, in Cleveland and on the national level.
Miller lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland
with his wife Lindsay, herself a key force in Seeds of Peace
since its inception. They have two children: Jennifer, author of Inheriting the Holy Land: An American’s Search for Hope in the Middle East (Ballantine, 2005)
and an aspiring writer and journalist, and Daniel, graduate of Princeton University
.
and spent a semester at the University of Warwick
on a history honors exchange program before graduating from the University of Michigan
with a B.A.
in 1971. Continuing on toward an M.A. in American Civil War
history, Miller changed fields to Middle East and American diplomacy and spent 1973 to 1974 in Jerusalem studying Arabic and Hebrew. He completed his Ph. D. in 1977. His dissertation, Search for Security: Saudi Arabian Oil and American Foreign Policy, 1939-1949 was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1980, and in paperback in 1991.
Office of the Historian, where he edited the documentary series Foreign Relations of the United States. In November 1980, he became the State Department’s top analyst for Lebanon and the Palestinians in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). Awarded an International Affairs Fellowship by the Council on Foreign Relations, he spent 1982-1983 at the Georgetown Center for Strategic and International Studies and the CFR in New York where he wrote his second book, The PLO and the Politics of Survival. The following year he returned to INR and served a temporary tour at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan before joining the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff in 1985. Between 1985 and 1993, Miller advised Secretaries of State Shultz and Baker, helping the latter plan the Madrid
Peace Conference of October 1991.
In June 1993, Miller was appointed as the Deputy Special Middle East Coordinator
in an office headed by Dennis Ross
and charged by President Clinton with managing the Arab-Israeli negotiations. For the next seven years, Miller worked as part of a small interagency team where he helped structure the U.S. role in Arab-Israeli negotiations through the historic Oslo process, multilateral Arab-Israeli economic summits, Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, and final status negotiations between Israel and Syria and between Israel and the Palestinians at Camp David
in July 2000. Miller continued work on the Arab-Israeli issues in the George W. Bush
administration
where he served as the Senior Advisor on Arab-Israeli negotiations in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
to Secretary of State Colin Powell
. He resigned from the Department of State in January 2003 to become President of Seeds of Peace.
, PBS, Fox News, the BBC
, CBC
, and Al Jazeera
.
In 2005 Miller was a featured presenter at the World Economic Forum
in both Davos
http://www.weforum.org/en/KNContributors/index.htm?personid=138098 and Amman, Jordan. He has also lectured at Harvard University
, Columbia University
, New York University
, University of California at Berkeley, University of Michigan
, University of Virginia
, The City Club of Cleveland
, Chatham House
, and The International Institute for Strategic Studies
.
His articles and op-ed pieces have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times
, The Washington Post
, Los Angeles Times
, The Wilson Quarterly
, and The International Herald Tribune.
.
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
analyst, author, and negotiator. He is on the U.S. Advisory Council of Israel Policy Forum, is Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and has been an advisor to six Secretaries of State. Miller worked within the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
for twenty four years (1978–2003). Between 1988 and 2003, Miller served six secretaries of state as an advisor on Arab-Israeli negotiations, where he participated in American efforts to broker agreements between Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and the Palestinians. He left the Department of State in January 2003 to serve as president of Seeds of Peace
Seeds of Peace
Seeds of Peace is a peacebuilding youth organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1993. As its main program, the organization brings youth from areas of conflict to its international camp in Maine. It also provides regional programming to support Seeds of Peace graduates, known as...
, an international youth organization, founded in 1993. In January 2006, he became a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars , located in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial that was established as part of the Smithsonian Institution by an act of Congress in 1968...
in Washington, DC. Miller published his fourth book, The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace, in 2008.
Personal/Family Background
Miller was born in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
on March 25, 1949, the eldest son of Samuel H. and Ruth Ratner Miller, both known for their civic, political and philanthropic work in the Jewish community and beyond, in Cleveland and on the national level.
Miller lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland. In addition, a number of villages in the same area of Montgomery County include "Chevy Chase" in their names...
with his wife Lindsay, herself a key force in Seeds of Peace
since its inception. They have two children: Jennifer, author of Inheriting the Holy Land: An American’s Search for Hope in the Middle East (Ballantine, 2005)
and an aspiring writer and journalist, and Daniel, graduate of Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
.
Education
Miller began his undergraduate career at Tulane UniversityTulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
and spent a semester at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a public research university located in Coventry, United Kingdom...
on a history honors exchange program before graduating from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
with a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1971. Continuing on toward an M.A. in American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
history, Miller changed fields to Middle East and American diplomacy and spent 1973 to 1974 in Jerusalem studying Arabic and Hebrew. He completed his Ph. D. in 1977. His dissertation, Search for Security: Saudi Arabian Oil and American Foreign Policy, 1939-1949 was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1980, and in paperback in 1991.
Government career
Miller entered the Department of State in November 1978 as an historian in the Bureau of Public AffairsBureau of Public Affairs
The Bureau of Public Affairs is the part of the United States Department of State that carries out the Secretary of State's mandate to help Americans understand the importance of foreign affairs...
Office of the Historian, where he edited the documentary series Foreign Relations of the United States. In November 1980, he became the State Department’s top analyst for Lebanon and the Palestinians in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR). Awarded an International Affairs Fellowship by the Council on Foreign Relations, he spent 1982-1983 at the Georgetown Center for Strategic and International Studies and the CFR in New York where he wrote his second book, The PLO and the Politics of Survival. The following year he returned to INR and served a temporary tour at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan before joining the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff in 1985. Between 1985 and 1993, Miller advised Secretaries of State Shultz and Baker, helping the latter plan the Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
Peace Conference of October 1991.
In June 1993, Miller was appointed as the Deputy Special Middle East Coordinator
in an office headed by Dennis Ross
Dennis Ross
Dennis B. Ross is an American diplomat and author. He has served as the Director of Policy Planning in the State Department under President George H. W...
and charged by President Clinton with managing the Arab-Israeli negotiations. For the next seven years, Miller worked as part of a small interagency team where he helped structure the U.S. role in Arab-Israeli negotiations through the historic Oslo process, multilateral Arab-Israeli economic summits, Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty, and final status negotiations between Israel and Syria and between Israel and the Palestinians at Camp David
Camp David
Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 60 mi north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Thurmont, at an elevation of...
in July 2000. Miller continued work on the Arab-Israeli issues in the George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration
where he served as the Senior Advisor on Arab-Israeli negotiations in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs is an agency of the Department of State within the United States government that deals with U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic relations with the nations of the Near East.-Duties:The Bureau handles U.S...
to Secretary of State Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
. He resigned from the Department of State in January 2003 to become President of Seeds of Peace.
After Government
In January 2006, Miller became a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where he planned and participated in programs on the Middle East and Arab-Israeli issues. In 2008, he completed his fourth book, The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace, an insider’s look based on 160 interviews with former presidents, secretaries of state, Arabs, and Israelis, American Jews, Arabs, and evangelical Christians on why America succeeded and failed in Arab-Israeli diplomacy over the past forty years.Media and Public Speaking
Throughout his career, Miller has made frequent media and speaking appearances as an expert on Arab-Israeli and Middle Eastern issues, including on CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, PBS, Fox News, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
, and Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
.
In 2005 Miller was a featured presenter at the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
in both Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
http://www.weforum.org/en/KNContributors/index.htm?personid=138098 and Amman, Jordan. He has also lectured at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, University of California at Berkeley, University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, The City Club of Cleveland
City Club of Cleveland
The City Club of Cleveland was incorporated in 1912 as a non-partisan forum for debate. Known as "America's Citadel of Free Speech", it is the longest continuous independent free speech forum in the country and generally considered one of the top three speaking forums in America...
, Chatham House
Chatham House
Chatham House, formally known as The Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in London whose mission is to analyse and promote the understanding of major international issues and current affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's leading...
, and The International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
.
His articles and op-ed pieces have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The Wilson Quarterly
Wilson Quarterly
The Wilson Quarterly is a magazine published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The magazine was founded in 1976 by Peter Braestrup and James H. Billington. The Quarterly is noted for its nonpartisan, nonideological approach to current issues, with articles...
, and The International Herald Tribune.
Awards
Miller has received the Department of State’s Distinguished, Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards. Between 1998 and 2000, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Governing Council. In 2005, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of HonorEllis Island Medal of Honor
The Ellis Island Medal of Honor was founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations and intended to pay homage to the immigrant experience. The medals honor the contribution made to America by immigrants and the legacy they left behind in the successes of their children and grand-children...
.
Books
- Search for Security: Saudi Arabian Oil and American Foreign Policy, 1939-1949 (Paperback, University of Northern California Press, 1991) ISBN 978-0-8078-4324-6
- PLO: Politics of Survival (Paperback, Praeger Press, 1983) ISBN 978-0-275-91583-4
- The Arab States and the Palestine Question: Between Ideology and Self-Interest (Paperback, Praeger Press, 1986) ISBN 978-0-275-92216-0
- The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace (Hardcover, Bantam Books, 2008) ISBN 978-0-553-80490-4
Articles
- "The Abandonment: How the Bush Administration Left Israelis and Palestinians to Their Fate", The Washington Post (29 April 2007) (accessdate 25 May 2011)."Annapolis Is Just the First Step" http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-miller26nov26,0,3142358.story?coll+la-opinion-rightrail"West Bank First: It Won’t Work" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061801365.html
- Robert Malley and Aaron David Miller, "For Israel and Hamas, a Case for Accommodation", The Washington Post (15 May 2006) (accessdate 25 May 2011).
- "The Arab-Israeli conflict: Toward an Equitable and Durable Solution", bnet (July 2005) (accessdate 25 May 2011).
- "Israel's Lawyer", The Washington Post (23 May 2005) (accessdate 25 May 2011).
External links
- Official site for Aaron David Miller's book The Much Too Promised Land and his blog
- The Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies
- Seeds of Peace
- Official site for the book Inheriting the Holy Land
- Video (with mp3 available) interviews/discussions involving Miller on Bloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tvBloggingheads.tv is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast online to viewers...