Paula Dobriansky

At the release of the State Department's annual human rights report in March 2005, Dobriansky said: "Promoting human rights is not just an element of our foreign policy, it is the bedrock of our policy and our foremost concern." The report condemned the use of a number of "torture techniques" in places like Egypt, Libya, and Iran that had been described by Donald Rumsfeld and other administration figures, in the context of Abu Ghraib, as merely "abuses." Commenting on the report, Tom Malinowksi, a spokesman for Human Rights Watch, said: "These are all techniques that were officially approved at various points that the Department of Justice has argued were not torture" (Boston Globe, March 1, 2005).

Since President George W. Bush's second inauguration, Dobriansky has frequently repeated the message about spreading "democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture ... [and] ending tyranny in our world." In late February 2005, reacting to anti-Syria demonstrations in Lebanon, Dobriansky claimed: "As the president noted in Bratislava just last week, there was a rose revolution in Georgia, an orange revolution in Ukraine and, most recently, a purple revolution in Iraq. In Lebanon, we see growing momentum for a cedar revolution" (Guardian, March 3, 2005).

A few weeks later, at the opening of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Dobriansky again argued: "History is calling to us—democracy is on the march everywhere, and it is the imperative of our time to rally to this cause. Georgia's Rose Revolution and Ukraine's Orange Revolution freed millions and inspired countless more who are still living under despotism. People around the world saw citizens of Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Palestinian Authority choosing their own governments and knew that they too should have that right. In Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East, the people have raised their voice for a true democracy with free and fair elections and a sovereign nation free from foreign occupation and influence. There is now enormous momentum for democracy to reach every corner of the globe."

Dobriansky's first post in the Bush administration was as undersecretary of state for global affairs. In July 2005, her portfolio was extended to include democracy promotion. According to her State Department biography, in this post Dobriansky "is responsible for a broad range of foreign policy issues, including democracy, human rights, labor, refugee and humanitarian relief matters, and environmental/science issues." She has been heavily involved in coordinating relief efforts for Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people. In February 2007, she established the Iraq Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons Task Force, which she described during a February 14, 2007 State Department briefing: "Our key immediate objectives are to assist internally displaced Iraqis and Iraqi refugees by building up the capacities of UN agencies and NGOs. This includes increasing opportunities for permanent resettlement for the most vulnerable Iraqis, to establish specialized programs to assist Iraqis who are at risk because of their employment or close association with the United States Government, to work diplomatically with regional governments through bilateral and multilateral channels to uphold the principle of first asylum" (quoted in "Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Deepening Humanitarian Crisis?" Congressional Research Service Report to Congress, March 23, 2007).

Alongside her government work, Dobriansky has actively supported or worked for a number of neoconservative-led policy institutes, including the Hudson Institute, the Independent Women's Forum, and Freedom House. She also supported the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), having signed several of PNAC's early public letters, including its founding statement of principles, which called for a "Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity," and championed America's "unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles."

Dobriansky also signed PNAC's January 26, 1998, letter to President Bill Clinton, which urged the president to attack Iraq, arguing that containment had failed. It said: "The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power." Among the signatories to the letter were several figures who would go on to serve in the George W. Bush administration, a point highlighted by PNAC founders Robert Kagan and William Kristol in an October 2001 editorial for the Weekly Standard, arguing that Iraq must be targeted in the wake of 9/11. They wrote: "Indeed, we find it hard to believe that anyone in this administration, whether in the State Department or in the White House or in the CIA, can seriously be arguing that the Iraqi regime should be left alone. In 1998 a group of prominent figures sent a letter to President Clinton urging him to take strong action against Saddam Hussein. They warned that if Saddam were to 'acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world's supply of oil will all be put at hazard.' They pressed President Clinton to make it the aim of American foreign policy to 'remove Saddam Hussein and his regime from power.' The signatories of that 1998 letter are today a Who's Who of senior ranking officials in this administration: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Under Secretary of State John Bolton, Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky, Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman, and National Security Council senior officials Elliott Abrams and Zalmay Khalilzad. If these Bush administration officials believed it was essential to bring about a change of regime in Iraq three years ago, they must believe it is even more essential today. Last week we lost more than 6,000 Americans to terrorism. How many more could we lose in a world where Saddam Hussein continues to thrive and continues his quest for weapons of mass destruction? Do we really want to find out?"

Regarding her academic background and professional experience, Dobriansky's State Department biography reports: "[Dobriansky] is a Fulbright-Hays scholar, Ford and Rotary Foundation Fellow, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and a recipient of various honors, including Georgetown University's Annual Alumni Achievement Award, the State Department's Superior Honor Award, Dialogue on Diversity's International Award 2001, National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Democracy Service Medal, Poland's Highest Medal of Merit, Grand Cross of Commander of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Fairleigh Dickinson University ... and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Flagler College. ... Dr. Dobriansky has lectured and published articles, book chapters, and op-ed pieces on foreign affairs-related topics, ranging from U.S. human rights policy to East European foreign and defense policies, public diplomacy, democracy promotion strategies, Russia, and Ukraine. For three years, she hosted Freedom's Challenge and co-hosted Worldwise, the international affairs programs on National Empowerment Television. Additionally, she has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN Headline News, CNN & Company, Fox Morning News, John McLaughlin's One-on-One, The McLaughlin Group, C-SPAN, MSNBC, PBS, and National Public Radio, and has testified often before the Senate Foreign Relations and House International Relations Committees."

Government Service

Private Sector

Education

State Department Press Statement, "Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky Designated Special Envoy on Northern Ireland," January 23, 2007.

U.S. High-Level Segment Statement at the Sixty-first Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, Geneva, Switzerland, March 17, 2005, http://www.state.gov/g/rls/rm/2005/43555.htm.

Farah Stockman, "U.S. Sounds Alarm on Human Rights," Boston Globe, March 1, 2005.

Timothy Garton Ash, "Cedar Revolution," Guardian, March 3, 2005.

Council on Foreign Relations: Paula Dobriansky Biography (Web Archive), http://web.archive.org/web/20050308231118/http://www.cfr.org/bio.php?id=19.

"Right-Wing Affiliations of Bush Administration Officials: The State Department," People for the American Way, http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=6180.

"Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Deepending Humanitarian Crisis?" Congressional Research Service Report to Congress, March 23, 2007.

Robert Kagan and William Kristol, "Right War," Weekly Standard, October 1, 2001.

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