John C. Kornblum
Encyclopedia
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and businessman. He entered the American Foreign Service
United States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
in 1964. Over the next thirty five years, he served in Europe and at the State Department
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...
in Washington. Since 2001, he has established himself as an investment banker and international business consultant. He lives in Berlin.
Diplomatic service
During his foreign service career, Kornblum specialized in European and East-West relations and played a defining role in many of the important events leading up to the end of the Cold War. These included the Quadripartite negotiations on Berlin (1970–1973), the Helsinki Final ActHelsinki Accords
thumb|300px|[[Erich Honecker]] and [[Helmut Schmidt]] in Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki 1975....
(1973–1975), the Belgrade Summit of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...
(OSCE) from 1977 to 1978, the stationing of [intermediate] nuclear weapons in Europe (INF) in the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan's historic 1987 appearance at the Brandenburg Gate
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...
in Berlin, German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
(1990), the Helsinki Summit Conference of the OSCE (1992), the Dayton Agreement
Dayton Agreement
The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, Dayton Accords, Paris Protocol or Dayton-Paris Agreement, is the peace agreement reached at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in November 1995, and formally signed in Paris on...
on the Balkans (1995), enlargement of NATO (1997), and the agreement on compensation of slave laborers and establishment of the Reconciliation Foundation of German Industry (2000). Kornblum also directed two dramatic prisoner and spy exchanges on the Glienicke Bridge
Glienicke bridge
The Glienicke bridge is a bridge on the edge of Berlin that spans the Havel River to connect the cities of Potsdam and Berlin near Klein Glienicke...
in Berlin in 1985 and 1986. The latter featured the release of Soviet dissident Anatoli Scharanskiy.
Kornblum was a member of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff
Policy Planning Staff
The Policy Planning Staff is the chief strategic arm of the United States Department of State. It was created in 1947 by renowned Foreign Service Officer George F...
under 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...
(1973–1975), Director of the State Department's Office of Central European Affairs (1981–1985), United States Minister and Deputy Commandant in Berlin (1985–1987), Deputy Ambassador to NATO
United States Permanent Representative to NATO
The United States Permanent Representative to NATO is the official representative of the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Representative has the rank of full ambassador and is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate...
(1987–1991), Ambassador and head of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE in Vienna (1991–1994) and Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs and Special Envoy to the Balkans (1995–1997). He served as the Ambassador to Germany
United States Ambassador to Germany
The United States has had diplomatic relations with the nation of Germany and its predecessor nation, the Kingdom of Prussia, since 1835. These relations were broken twice while Germany and the United States were at war...
from 1997 to 2001.
Ambassador to Germany
Kornblum's tenure as Ambassador to Germany was highlighted by the move of the German government from the West German capital in Bonn on the Rhine to reunified Berlin. In 1999, he reopened the Embassy of the United States in BerlinEmbassy of the United States in Berlin
The Embassy of the United States in Berlin maintains diplomatic relations and represents United States interests in dealing with the German government. The U.S. Embassy in Germany has not always been in Berlin.-1797–1930:...
for the first time since December 8, 1941. The embassy was first housed in the building formerly used as the American Embassy to the German Democratic Republic. Constructing a new chancery
Chancery (diplomacy)
A 'Chancery' is the type of building that houses a diplomatic mission or embassy. The building can house one or several different nations' missions....
on the site of the prewar building at the Brandenburg Gate turned out to be a difficult undertaking. Heightened United States security requirements led to a long and at times bitter dispute with Berlin authorities during which Kornblum became the target of repeated political and public criticism. Shortly before leaving office in 2001, Kornblum negotiated a settlement which was ultimately confirmed by 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...
in 2003. The new embassy opened on July 4, 2008.
Kornblum's more than forty years of active presence in Europe have made him one of the most experienced and effective American practitioners on Europe and Atlantic relations. Sometimes by chance, often by design, he continues to contribute to building a spriti of community across the Atlantic. A highpont of his efforts was the June 1987,speech by President Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Kornblum conceived and organized the event and prepared the important political intitiatives wich included the famous "tear down this wall" phrase in the Presdient's speech. His service at NATO included helping prepare the new Alliance strategy after 1990 and negotiation of NATO's position for the conventional forces negotiations with the Soviet Union. From 1991 to 1992, Kornblum was present from the beginning of negotiation of the Helsinki Final Act and contributed sevral times to its implementation in the following years. He played a lead role in negotiating the Helsinki Summit Declaration, the "Challenges of Change" which devised a new operational role for the then Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and from 1992 to 1994 opened and headed the first American Mission to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). Returning to Washington in 1994, he was instrumental in devising the post-Cold War Atlantic security strategy, including the enlargement of NATO in 1997, the NATO-Russia Council, the NATO-Ukraine Council and the expansion, renaming and reorganization of the CSCE to OSCE. In 1995, Kornblum was one of the main architects of the Dayton Peace Agreement, and later served for two years as United States Special Envoy to the Balkans.
Reagan's Berlin speech
Kornblum described the complex diplomacy which preceded President Reagan's speech at the Brandenburg GateBrandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...
in an article as "Reagan's Brandenburg Concerto" (in allusion to the complex work of the Brandenburg concertos
Brandenburg concertos
The Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 . They are widely regarded as among the finest musical compositions of the Baroque era...
by Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
), which appeared in the May/June, 2007 issue of The American Interest
The American Interest
The American Interest is a non-partisan bimonthly magazine focusing primarily on foreign policy, international affairs, global economics, and matters related to the military...
and was reprinted in the German newspaper Die Welt
Die Welt
Die Welt is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a "quality newspaper" modelled on The Times...
on June 12, 2007. In the article, he describes how the decision to stage the speech at the most dramatic point on the Berlin Wall was planned for nearly a year in advance by US diplomats in Germany and Washington as a counterweight to the growing sentiment within Germany for an arrangement with the new, liberal Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Many began to hope that in return for legal acceptance of the sovereignty of East Germany, the West could obtain the inclusion of West Berlin into West Germany and a gradual opening of the wall. Any such deal with Gorbachev would have undermined hopes for reunification of Germany and the liberation of Eastern Europe. Reagan's dramatic call for Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," was not an isolated event, but was conceived by Kornblum and his team as the logical focal point for the detailed American initiative to remind both East and West that the United States was not willing to accept an undemocratic status quo in the center of Europe. The speech highlighted a number of proposals to accelerate democratic change by making the wall more porous, and thus helping Gorbachev to open it. Kornblum describes the many political pressures exerted in Germany and Washington as this concept was being implemented and concludes with an analysis of the meaning of the speech 20 years later.
Later activities
Since leaving diplomatic service, Kornblum has followed parallel careers in business, consulting and public commentary in Europe and the United States. From 2001 to 2009, Kornblum served as Chairman of the investment bank Lazard Freres Germany, which he helped build to one of the leading investment banks in Central Europe. He has also been a member of the supervisory boards of Bayer AG, Thyssen-Krupp Technologies, and Motorola Europe. He is a member of the advisory councils of Russell Reynolds and Consultum AG, and an advisor to the Finnish Innovation Fund SITRASITRA
SITRA , the Finnish Innovation Fund, was founded in the year 1967 as a part of the Bank of Finland. Currently it is an independent public foundation which operates directly under the supervision of the Finnish Parliament. Sitra's president is Mr. Mikko Kosonen.Sitra's duties are stated in legislation...
, and to the Center for Strategic and International Studies
Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan Washington, D.C., foreign policy think tank. The center was founded in 1962 by Admiral Arleigh Burke and Ambassador David Manker Abshire, originally as part of Georgetown University...
in Washington. Kornblum serves on numerous non-profit boards including the American Academy in Berlin, the German Institute for Community Organizing (DICO) and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He currently serves as adviser to a number of transatlantic companies including the international law firm Noerr
Noerr
Noerr is a pan-European full-service law firm headquartered in Munich, Germany. Founded in 1950, the firm today operates 15 offices in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Noerr currently employes over 470 lawyers, tax consultants, chartered...
, Accenture Inc., and Pfizer.
During the past ten years, Kornblum has established a strong public voice defining the implications for Europe and the United States of the new era in global politics which followed the end of the Cold War. He has built on both his diplomatic and business experience to focus particularly on the issues connected with the rapidly changing relationships between government and the private sector in a globally integrated world. He speaks and writes regularly in Europe and the United States on economic, security and political issues. Kornblum does regular commentary for several European and American networks on American politics and foreign policy.
Looking to the future of the Atlantic world, Kornblum presents an alternative vision for the evolution of Germany and Europe in an article published in the November/December 2009 issue of the political journal The American Interest. He argues that the end of Cold War confrontation and spread of free market systems has made possible the establishment of a tight web of open sourced networks which are overcoming traditional geography and creating new patterns of culture and trade. Kornblum suggests that increasing global integration will gradually reduce Germany's fear of being caught in the middle of big power confrontation and give it a new sense of confidence. He concludes, "With its deepening sense of being at the center of a newly integrated world will come a growing sense of responsibility that will cause the ghosts of the past to gradually recede. Germany will not answer lingering questions about its normalcy; it will transcend them. By our lights today, Germany will not be normal, but nothing else will be either." A German translation of this article appeared in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
on November 6, 2009.
Kornblum expanded his commentary on the Obama era in a recent book, Mission Amerika written in German together with well-known television commentator Dieter Kronzucker
Dieter Kronzucker
Dieter Kronzucker is a German journalist and television presenter.- Life :Kronzucker studied at University of Vienna. He works as journalist and television presenter in Germany. His daughter Susanne Kronzucker works also as journalist. From 2001 to 2007 Kronzucker worked as professor at University...
. In the book, the authors describe the groundwork for the vision of change proclaimed by President Obama created by the wide-reaching social and demographic changes which have taken place in the United States during the past thirty years. They suggest that Obama's victory was a result both of a skillful campaign and a dramatic evolution of American society which provided a ready audience for Obama's ideas. They warn, however, that Obama's program of transformation is likely to encounter heavy resistance in the wake of the economic crisis.
Awards
In 2000, Kornblum added the highest honor presented to an American foreign service officer, the Secretary's Award, to the many distinctions he earned during his Foreign Service Career. He has also been awarded the BundesverdienstkreuzBundesverdienstkreuz
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
, the Österreichischer Verdienstorden, the Silver Medal of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany and Honorary Citizenship of Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
. Kornblum was awarded the Knighthood of the Aachen, Germany Karnevalsverein in January 1999, which makes him a member of the prestigious "Orden Wider den Tierischen Ernst" (Order Against Deadly Seriousness), and was named Distinguished Alumnus of Michigan State University in June 1999.
Personal life
John Kornblum has been married to Helen Sen Kornblum since 1987. They have two sons: Alexander (born 1988) and Stephen (born 1990).Selected works by Kornblum
- "Remapping the World," Die Welt, July 2, 2008.
- The German Element, 2003
- "Reagan's Brandenburg Concerto", The American InterestThe American InterestThe American Interest is a non-partisan bimonthly magazine focusing primarily on foreign policy, international affairs, global economics, and matters related to the military...
, May/June 2007 - "Dialogue on the Expansion of NATO" (with Michael Mandelbaum), The American InterestThe American InterestThe American Interest is a non-partisan bimonthly magazine focusing primarily on foreign policy, international affairs, global economics, and matters related to the military...
, March/April 2008 - "Governing by Network," Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, January 10, 2009
- Mission Amerika. Weltmacht am Wendepunkt (with Dieter KronzuckerDieter KronzuckerDieter Kronzucker is a German journalist and television presenter.- Life :Kronzucker studied at University of Vienna. He works as journalist and television presenter in Germany. His daughter Susanne Kronzucker works also as journalist. From 2001 to 2007 Kronzucker worked as professor at University...
and Redline Verlag), Gebundene Ausgabe, April 17, 2009 - "From the Middle to the Center: German Normality in an Integrated World", The American InterestThe American InterestThe American Interest is a non-partisan bimonthly magazine focusing primarily on foreign policy, international affairs, global economics, and matters related to the military...
, November/December 2009, pp. 68–70. - "Zentrum einer integrierten Welt," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, November 6, 2009, p. 8.
- "Germany in Need of a Dream," International Herald TribuneInternational Herald TribuneThe International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, April 23, 2010, page 6. - " Germany at 65, A New Chapter Begins," p. 23 Reflections on 20 Years of German Reunification American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, Washington, 2010.
- "We Need a New Atlanticism," published in German in "Handelsblatt," April 15, 2011, p. 9.