Eikenberry honored for lifetime of public service
By From staff reports
Published in News on March 18, 2012 1:50 AM
Former Ambassador and retired Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry was honored earlier this month with the George F. Kennan Award for Distinguished Public Service by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.
Established in 1994 in honor of George F. Kennan, a U.S. scholar, diplomat and statesman instrumental in shaping American foreign policy during the Cold War, the award is given annually to an American who, according to the award banquet's program, "has served the United States in an exemplary way and has made a seminal contribution to defining and illuminating the national interests of the United States."
Of Eikenberry, the NCAFP said in statement, "We are particularly impressed by his widely respected and exemplary leadership in conceptualizing, designing, and articulating American military and foreign policy strategy and tactics involving and harmonizing both hard and soft power."
Former winners include George Kennan, former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, Paul Volcker, Richard Holbrooke, Maurice Greenberg, John Negroponte, CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
"The award reminds me first and foremost that any success that I have enjoyed over the course of my career of public and military service has been while standing on the shoulders of some remarkable men and women in the ranks of the United States government and our armed forces. And on occasions like this, I always reflect on my Goldsboro roots and the strong foundation I gained during my earlier years in Wayne County," Eikenberry said.
The National Committee on American Foreign Policy was founded in 1974 by Professor Hans J. Morgenthau and others. It is a nonprofit activist organization dedicated to the resolution of conflicts that threaten U.S. interests. Toward that end, the NCAFP identifies, articulates, and helps advance American foreign policy interests from a nonpartisan perspective within the framework of political realism. Its headquarters is in New York City.
Eikenberry served as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from May 2009 until July 2011, overseeing what he has termed President Barack Obama's "civilian surge" after serving in the U.S. Army for 35 years, retiring in April 2009 as a lieutenant general. During his tenure, he was the commander of the America-led forces in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007, and also served as deputy chairman of the NATO Military Committee in Brussels.
Currently Eikenberry is the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He also is an affiliated faculty member with the Center for International Security and Cooperation and an affiliated researcher with the Europe Center.