David L. Aaron
Encyclopedia
David Laurence Aaron is an American diplomat, and international expert and writer who served in the Jimmy Carter
administration. He graduated from Occidental College
with a BA, and from Princeton University
with an MPA. He later received an honorary Ph.D from Occidental College. He is currently director of the RAND Corporation's Center for Middle East Public Policy.
Aaron entered the U.S. foreign service in 1962, where he served as a political and economic officer in Guayaquil, Ecuador. In 1964 he was assigned to the NATO desk at the Department of State. He subsequently served as a political officer to NATO where he worked on the Nuclear Planning Group and on the Non Proliferation Treaty. He then joined the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
where he served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
(SALT, during which Aaron was a key negotiator of an agreement with the Soviet Union
to reduce the risk of nuclear weapon accidents. He was then recruited to serve on Henry Kissinger
's National Security Council
staff during the Nixon
administration, from 1972 to 1974. During that time, Aaron drafted NSSM 242 on Nuclear Strategy, which came to be known as the Schlessenger Doctrine.
In 1974, on the recommendation of Zbigniew Brzezinski
, Aaron became Senator Walter Mondale
's legislative assistant. The following year, Aaron was task force leader of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence
. He was the principal architect of the Committee's recommendations. Aaron would later follow Mondale to the Jimmy Carter
Presidential campaign.
In 1977, Aaron was asked by Zbigniew Brzezinski, who had been appointed the National Security Advisor
, to become Deputy National Security Advisor
in the administration of Jimmy Carter
. Aaron was one of several former Kissinger
aides appointed by Jimmy Carter
to foreign policy
and defense
positions.
During his time at the White House
, Aaron made a name for himself in foreign policy circles and was recognised as a rising star in the Democratic Party. Aaron was a special envoy to Africa, Latin America, China, Israel and Europe, and became a trusted envoy on Presidential missions. Shortly after Carter's inauguration, Aaron attended the Bilderberg Conference, in which he undertook lengthy private discussions with German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
. In Israel
, Aaron worked with Moshe Dayan
on the concept of "autonomy
" for the Palestinians. This concept helped to open the door for the Camp David Agreements, which are understood to have structured peace between Egypt
and Israel.
Aaron also represented the White House in talks with the Office of French President Giscard d'Estang in Paris, as well as with the Cabinet Office at Number 10 Downing Street in London. President Carter tapped Aaron to lead an inter-agency mission to structure an agreement with European nations to deploy U.S. Pershing Missiles and Ground Launched Cruise Missiles in Europe, in response to the deployment
of SS-20 Intermediate Missiles by the Soviet Union
. He persuaded key governments to accept the U.S. deployments, as well as to seek negotiations with the U.S.S.R. for the future bilateral elimination of the deployments.
Aaron was also seen as a tough and sometimes controversial figure. The U.S. Ambassador in Paris complained that he was going behind his back in secret dealings with French President Giscard d'Estang's office. In 1978, he came head to head with Director of Central Intelligence
Turner
of the CIA, on Turner's cutbacks and at the CIA. Aaron's image as a "tough customer" was intensified during an attack on North Yemen by South Yemen which was backed by the Soviet Union. President Carter
, Brzezinski
and Cyrus Vance
were on a mission to Egypt
and Israel
. He remained in Washington
to coordinate the U.S. response. Aaron's hard-line against Communist expansion led him to push for the dispatch of $400 million dollars in arms to North Yemen. White House
staff commented on his tough rule, one staff member was quoted as saying, "Believe it or not, people were relieved when Brzezinski got back to town".
During the Presidential campaign of 1980, Aaron was the target of an anonymous smear campaign by Republican "dirty tricks" operatives that came to be known as the Madison Group. They circulated a rumor that at a cocktail party he had divulged information that the Soviet Union used to uncover a U.S. spy who was then killed. The story was a fabrication. Jimmy Carter
was quick to defend Aaron and insisted on his innocence. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence conducted a through investigation of the allegations and exonerated Aaron stating that, there was "no credible evidence" to support the accusations. At the same time, the Madison Group spread the accusation that Aaron had leaked information to the press that appeared in an article on the U.S. Stealth aircraft program. However during Congressional hearings on the issue, the author of the article said that Aaron was not his source.
When Reagan
became President in 1981, Aaron moved into the private sector, becoming Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions at Oppenheimer and Co. and Vice Chairman of Oppenheimer International. Aaron left Oppenheimer in 1985, to write and lecture, but went on to serve on the board of directors of Oppenheimer's Quest for Value Dual Purpose Fund. Over the next several years he published three novels (State Scarlet; Agent of Influence and Crossing By Night) which were translated into ten languages. He also wrote ay television documentary "The Lessons of the Gulf War" hosted by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. William Crowe. He was also a consultant for the 20th Century Fund, from 1990 to 1992.
Aaron was involved in the election campaigns of Walter Mondale
and Bill Clinton
. In Mondale's campaign, Aaron played a leading role as senior consultant on foreign policy and defense. Aaron served in Clinton's foreign policy team during his election campaign.
In 1993 he became United States Permanent Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, and in 1996 was assigned the additional job of White House Special Envoy for Cryptography. At the OECD he successfully negotiated the Convention to Prohibit Bribry in International Business Transactions. As Special Envoy for Cryptography, Aaron pushed for a global standard that would require computer users with high grade encryption to submit keys to their codes for scrambling data to an independent authority, which would hold them in escrow and make them available to law enforcement only under a court order. At the time, he argued that unbreakable codes in the hands of terrorists would threaten every country's security. However, he was attacked by advocates of privacy rights, who said that the compromise could easily be misused by Governments and corporations. In 1997 he was appointed Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade, where ironically he negotiated privacy rules with the European Union on the handling of personal data.
After Clinton's second term in office, Aaron became senior international advisor at Dorsey & Whitney
. He left Dorsey & Whitney
in 2003 to join the RAND Corporation as a senior fellow. At RAND, he directs The Center For Middle East Public Policy and recently produced a non fiction book, "In their Own Words: Voices of Jihad", published by the RAND Corporation.
He is a member of the American Ditchley Foundation, the Atlantic Council
, the Council on Foreign Relations
, the International League of Human Rights, the National Democratic Institute, and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
administration. He graduated from Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
with a BA, and from 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....
with an MPA. He later received an honorary Ph.D from Occidental College. He is currently director of the RAND Corporation's Center for Middle East Public Policy.
Aaron entered the U.S. foreign service in 1962, where he served as a political and economic officer in Guayaquil, Ecuador. In 1964 he was assigned to the NATO desk at the Department of State. He subsequently served as a political officer to NATO where he worked on the Nuclear Planning Group and on the Non Proliferation Treaty. He then joined the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
The U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency was established as an independent agency of the United States government by the Arms Control and Disarmament Act , September 26, 1961, a bill drafted by presidential adviser John J. McCloy. Its predecessor was the U.S. Disarmament Administration, part...
where he served as a member of the U.S. Delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty refers to two rounds of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union—the Cold War superpowers—on the issue of armament control. There were two rounds of talks and agreements: SALT I and SALT...
(SALT, during which Aaron was a key negotiator of an agreement with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to reduce the risk of nuclear weapon accidents. He was then recruited to serve on Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
's National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
staff during the Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
administration, from 1972 to 1974. During that time, Aaron drafted NSSM 242 on Nuclear Strategy, which came to be known as the Schlessenger Doctrine.
In 1974, on the recommendation of Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....
, Aaron became Senator Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
's legislative assistant. The following year, Aaron was task force leader of the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of the United States who provide information and analysis for leaders of the executive and legislative branches. The...
. He was the principal architect of the Committee's recommendations. Aaron would later follow Mondale to the Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
Presidential campaign.
In 1977, Aaron was asked by Zbigniew Brzezinski, who had been appointed the National Security Advisor
National Security Advisor (United States)
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor , serves as the chief advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues...
, to become Deputy National Security Advisor
Deputy National Security Advisor
The Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor is a member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, serving as deputy to the President's National Security Advisor....
in the administration of Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. Aaron was one of several former Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
aides appointed by Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
to foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
and defense
Defense (military)
Defense has several uses in the sphere of military application.Personal defense implies measures taken by individual soldiers in protecting themselves whether by use of protective materials such as armor, or field construction of trenches or a bunker, or by using weapons that prevent the enemy...
positions.
During his time at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, Aaron made a name for himself in foreign policy circles and was recognised as a rising star in the Democratic Party. Aaron was a special envoy to Africa, Latin America, China, Israel and Europe, and became a trusted envoy on Presidential missions. Shortly after Carter's inauguration, Aaron attended the Bilderberg Conference, in which he undertook lengthy private discussions with German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...
. In Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Aaron worked with Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...
on the concept of "autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
" for the Palestinians. This concept helped to open the door for the Camp David Agreements, which are understood to have structured peace between Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Israel.
Aaron also represented the White House in talks with the Office of French President Giscard d'Estang in Paris, as well as with the Cabinet Office at Number 10 Downing Street in London. President Carter tapped Aaron to lead an inter-agency mission to structure an agreement with European nations to deploy U.S. Pershing Missiles and Ground Launched Cruise Missiles in Europe, in response to the deployment
Deployment
Deployment may refer to:* Deployment flowchart, a process mapping tool used to articulate the steps and stakeholders of a given process* System deployment, transforming a mechanical, electrical, or computer system from a packaged form to an operational state* Software deployment, all of the...
of SS-20 Intermediate Missiles by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He persuaded key governments to accept the U.S. deployments, as well as to seek negotiations with the U.S.S.R. for the future bilateral elimination of the deployments.
Aaron was also seen as a tough and sometimes controversial figure. The U.S. Ambassador in Paris complained that he was going behind his back in secret dealings with French President Giscard d'Estang's office. In 1978, he came head to head with Director of Central Intelligence
Director of Central Intelligence
The Office of United States Director of Central Intelligence was the head of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, the principal intelligence advisor to the President and the National Security Council, and the coordinator of intelligence activities among and between the various United...
Turner
Stansfield Turner
Stansfield M. Turner is a retired Admiral and former Director of Central Intelligence. He is currently a senior research scholar at the University of Maryland, College Park School of Public Policy....
of the CIA, on Turner's cutbacks and at the CIA. Aaron's image as a "tough customer" was intensified during an attack on North Yemen by South Yemen which was backed by the Soviet Union. President Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, Brzezinski
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....
and Cyrus Vance
Cyrus Vance
Cyrus Roberts Vance was an American lawyer and United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1980...
were on a mission to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He remained in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to coordinate the U.S. response. Aaron's hard-line against Communist expansion led him to push for the dispatch of $400 million dollars in arms to North Yemen. White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
staff commented on his tough rule, one staff member was quoted as saying, "Believe it or not, people were relieved when Brzezinski got back to town".
During the Presidential campaign of 1980, Aaron was the target of an anonymous smear campaign by Republican "dirty tricks" operatives that came to be known as the Madison Group. They circulated a rumor that at a cocktail party he had divulged information that the Soviet Union used to uncover a U.S. spy who was then killed. The story was a fabrication. Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
was quick to defend Aaron and insisted on his innocence. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence conducted a through investigation of the allegations and exonerated Aaron stating that, there was "no credible evidence" to support the accusations. At the same time, the Madison Group spread the accusation that Aaron had leaked information to the press that appeared in an article on the U.S. Stealth aircraft program. However during Congressional hearings on the issue, the author of the article said that Aaron was not his source.
When Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
became President in 1981, Aaron moved into the private sector, becoming Vice President for Mergers and Acquisitions at Oppenheimer and Co. and Vice Chairman of Oppenheimer International. Aaron left Oppenheimer in 1985, to write and lecture, but went on to serve on the board of directors of Oppenheimer's Quest for Value Dual Purpose Fund. Over the next several years he published three novels (State Scarlet; Agent of Influence and Crossing By Night) which were translated into ten languages. He also wrote ay television documentary "The Lessons of the Gulf War" hosted by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. William Crowe. He was also a consultant for the 20th Century Fund, from 1990 to 1992.
Aaron was involved in the election campaigns of Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale
Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 42nd Vice President of the United States , under President Jimmy Carter, and as a United States Senator for Minnesota...
and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. In Mondale's campaign, Aaron played a leading role as senior consultant on foreign policy and defense. Aaron served in Clinton's foreign policy team during his election campaign.
In 1993 he became United States Permanent Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, and in 1996 was assigned the additional job of White House Special Envoy for Cryptography. At the OECD he successfully negotiated the Convention to Prohibit Bribry in International Business Transactions. As Special Envoy for Cryptography, Aaron pushed for a global standard that would require computer users with high grade encryption to submit keys to their codes for scrambling data to an independent authority, which would hold them in escrow and make them available to law enforcement only under a court order. At the time, he argued that unbreakable codes in the hands of terrorists would threaten every country's security. However, he was attacked by advocates of privacy rights, who said that the compromise could easily be misused by Governments and corporations. In 1997 he was appointed Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade, where ironically he negotiated privacy rules with the European Union on the handling of personal data.
After Clinton's second term in office, Aaron became senior international advisor at Dorsey & Whitney
Dorsey & Whitney
Dorsey & Whitney LLP is a large law firm, with close to 600 lawyers and 650 staff located in 19 offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Its headquarters is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has been since its inception. Dorsey is currently led by its managing partner, Marianne D. Short...
. He left Dorsey & Whitney
Dorsey & Whitney
Dorsey & Whitney LLP is a large law firm, with close to 600 lawyers and 650 staff located in 19 offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Its headquarters is in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and has been since its inception. Dorsey is currently led by its managing partner, Marianne D. Short...
in 2003 to join the RAND Corporation as a senior fellow. At RAND, he directs The Center For Middle East Public Policy and recently produced a non fiction book, "In their Own Words: Voices of Jihad", published by the RAND Corporation.
He is a member of the American Ditchley Foundation, the Atlantic Council
Atlantic Council
The Atlantic Council is a Washington, D.C. think tank and public policy group whose mission is to "promote constructive U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the central role of the Atlantic community in meeting the international challenges of the 21st...
, the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
, the International League of Human Rights, the National Democratic Institute, and the Pacific Council on International Policy.