Talcott Williams Seelye

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Talcott W. Seelye (March 6, 1922 – June 8, 2006) was a former United States Ambassador, author, and commentator.

Seelye was born in Beirut the son of a professor at the American University of Beirut, and great grandson of Julius H. Seelye (famed preacher, writer and fifth president of Amherst College). He attended Deerfield Academy and then graduated from Amherst College in 1944 and enlisted in the U.S. Army for a three year term during World War II. After a career in the US Foreign Service, he served as an ambassador in the middle east under two presidents. He is the father of Kate Seelye, a reporter who works for NPR.

In editorial articles, television commentary, and other public appearances, Seelye had been criticized Israel for militarism and US foreign policy in support of such policies. Within the framework of America's pro-Israel lobby (see AIPAC, Seelye has often been portrayed as an Anti-Zionist Arabist. He has been monitored by pro-Israel groups such as Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America ("CAMERA"), Middle East Forum (with its Campus Watch project), and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who have worked to undermine his reputation with accusations such as ties to oil companies and the Saudi Arabian House of Saud. Detractors include Steve Emerson (The American House of Saud: The Secret Petrodollar Connection), Daniel Pipes, Martin Kramer, David Horowitz, and Robert D. Kaplan.

After the 2001 9/11 Attacks, Seelye again found himself in the spotlight as an expert on Middle Eastern affairs and continued to advise think tanks and policy making groups. He also continues to come under attack, such as an Atlantic Monthly article Robert D. Kaplan in which he wrote of Seelye that such "Arabists and other area specialists may be emotionally involved, through marriage or friendship, with host countries -- often causing them to dislike the policies that Washington orders them to execute." Recently, Seelye and over 50 former US ambassadors and government officials signed the Middle East Policy Council's letter to Pres. Bush, criticizing US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, specifically Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral Gaza withdrawal plan, announced in 2004 and enacted in 2005 (letter cited below), which followed earlier British diplomats' letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Contents

[edit] Service Chronology

Talcott W. Seelye's Diplomatic Chronology
Position Host country or organization Year
US Army Officer Iran 1944 to 1946
US Foreign Service Germany 1950 - 1952
US Foreign Service Jordan 1952
US Foreign Service Kuwait Date Unknown
US Foreign Service Saudi Arabia 1967
US State Department Country Director for Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria 1968 to 1971
U.S. Ambassador Tunisia 1972 to 1976 (under Richard Nixon)
US Presidential Envoy Lebanon 1972 (under Richard Nixon)
U.S. Ambassador Syria 1977 to 1981 (under Jimmy Carter)

[edit] Written Works

[edit] Books

  • U.S.-Arab Relations: The Syrian Dimension (Portland: Portland State University Press, 1985) ISBN 0-916729-02-8

[edit] Articles

[edit] U.S. Department of State Documents

[edit] Works about or mentioning Seelye

[edit] Obituaries

[edit] Citations (Favorable)

[edit] Citations (Unfavorable)

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Richard W. Murphy		 U.S. Ambassador to Syria
1978–1981		 Succeeded by
Robert P. Paganelli