Zalmay Khalilzad

Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (Pashto/Dari: زلمی خلیلزاد Zalmay Khalīlzād; born March 22, 1951) is an Afghan-American diplomat, who has served as the Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation at the State Department since September 2018. Previously, he served as a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the president of Gryphon Partners and Khalilzad Associates, an international business consulting firm, based in Washington, D.C. He was the United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush and, briefly, President Barack Obama. Khalilzad's previous assignments in the Bush administration included Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 and Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007. In 2017, he was considered for Secretary of State in the Trump administration. On September 5, 2018, Khalilzad was appointed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to serve as a special envoy to Afghanistan.