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James F. Dobbins
3rd United States Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
In office May 10, 2013 – July 21, 2014
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Marc Grossman
Succeeded by	Dan Feldman
United States Ambassador to Afghanistan
Acting
In office December 17, 2001 – January 1, 2002
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Diplomatic relations reestablished
Succeeded by	Ryan Crocker (acting)
21st Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs
In office January 2, 2001 – June 1, 2001
President	Bill Clinton George W. Bush
Preceded by	Marc Grossman
Succeeded by	A. Elizabeth Jones
United States Ambassador to the European Union
In office October 9, 1991 – July 31, 1993
President	George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Thomas Michael Tolliver Niles
Succeeded by	Stuart E. Eizenstat
Personal details
Born	(1942-05-31)May 31, 1942 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	July 3, 2023(2023-07-03) (aged 81)
Spouse	Toril Kleivdal
Alma mater	Georgetown University
Profession	Diplomat, Career Ambassador

James Francis Dobbins Jr. (May 31, 1942 – July 3, 2023) was an American diplomat who served as United States ambassador to the European Union (1991–1993), assistant secretary of state for European affairs (2001), and special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (May 2013–July 2014). He was a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy. Additionally, Dobbins served as envoy to Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti, and Somalia. In 2001, he led negotiations leading to the Bonn Agreement, and served as acting ambassador of the United States to Afghanistan during the transitional period. He was later head of international and security policy for the RAND Corporation.

Education

Dobbins graduated with a BS in international affairs from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Death

Dobbins died from complications of Parkinson's disease on July 3, 2023, at the age of 81.

Works

• "Iraq: Winning the Unwinnable Wars", Foreign Affairs, January/February 2005
• "Who Lost Iraq?", Foreign Affairs, September/October 2007
• "Counterinsurgency in Iraq", Senate Armed Services Committee, 2-26-09
• Dobbins, James (March 3, 2009). "To Talk With Iran, Stop Not Talking". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
• Dobbins, James (January 16, 2010). "Skip the Graft". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
• Occupying Iraq: A History of the Coalition Provisional Authority The RAND Corporation. By James Dobbins, Seth G. Jones, Benjamin Runkle, Siddharth Mohandas, 2009.

Bibliography

• The UN's Role in Nation-Building: From the Congo to Iraq. RAND Corporation. 2005. ISBN 978-0-8330-3589-9.
• The RAND History of Nation-Building. RAND Corporation. 2005. ISBN 978-0-8330-3739-8.
• The Beginner's Guide to Nation-Building. RAND National Security Research Division. 2007. ISBN 978-0-8330-3988-0.
• Europe's Role in Nation-Building: From the Balkans to the Congo. RAND Corporation. 2008. ISBN 978-0-8330-4138-8.
• After the War: Nation-Building from FDR to George W. Bush. RAND Corporation. 2008. ISBN 978-0-8330-4181-4.
• After the Taliban: Nation-Building in Afghanistan. Potomac Books. 2008. ISBN 978-1-59797-083-9.
• James Dobbins; Seth G. Jones; Benjamin Runkle (2009). Occupying Iraq: A History of the Coalition Provisional Authority. RAND Corporation. ISBN 978-0-8330-4665-9.

References

1. "The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project Information Series AMBASSADOR JAMES DOBBINS" (PDF). Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. 21 July 2003. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
2. Bob Woodward (2007). State of Denial: Bush at War. Simon and Schuster. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-7432-7224-7.
3. Mudd, Harvey (2013). Takedown: Inside the Hunt for Al Qaeda. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 6–8, 11–18. ISBN 978-0-8122-4496-0. OCLC 868017409.
4. "James Dobbins - Profile". RAND. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
5. "James F. Dobbins, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan". Archived from the original on 12 December 2008.
6. "James Dobbins, former US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, dies at 81". ATN News. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.

External links

• UNJobs.org list of Dobbins authorships
• Video discussion with Dobbins and Mark Leon Goldberg on Bloggingheads.tv
• "An Interview with James Dobbins", Frontline, Sept. 26, 2003
• Appearances on C-SPAN

v t e United States ambassadors to Afghanistan
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary (1935–1948)	Hornibrook Dreyfus Thayer (chargé d'affaires) Engert Palmer
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (1948–1979)	Palmer Dreyfus Merrell Ward Tibbetts Mills Byroade Steeves Robert Neumann Eliot Dubs
Chargés d'affaires (1979–1989)	Amstutz Quinn Mills Dunbar Hurwitz Ealum Glassman
The embassy was closed from January 30, 1989, to January 17, 2002; the liaison office reopened on December 17, 2001.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (2001–2021)	Dobbins (chargé d'affaires) Crocker (chargé d'affaires) Finn Khalilzad Ronald Neumann Wood Eikenberry Crocker Cunningham McKinley Llorens (chargé d'affaires) Bass Wilson (chargé d'affaires)
The embassy transferred operations to Qatar on August 31, 2021.
Chargés d'affaires (2021–present)	McCary Decker

• 1942 births
• 2023 deaths
• Ambassadors of the United States to the European Union
• Diplomats from New York City
• Ambassadors of the United States to Afghanistan
• United States Special Envoys
• United States Foreign Service personnel
• 20th-century American diplomats
• 21st-century American diplomats