Gary Sick

Gary G. Sick (born 1935) is an American academic and analyst of Middle East affairs, with special expertise on Iran, who served on the U.S. National Security Council under Presidents Ford, Carter, and for a couple weeks under Reagan as well. He has authored three books, and is perhaps best known to the wider public for voicing support for elements of the October surprise conspiracy theory regarding the Iran hostage crisis and the 1980 presidential election.

Biographical profile

Sick is a retired captain in the U.S. Navy Captain (United States). He received a B.A. from Kansas University in 1957, and later earned a Master of Science degree at George Washington University (1970), followed by a PhD in political science at Columbia University (1973).

Sick served on the staff of the National Security Council under President Carter, and was the principal White House aide for Persian Gulf affairs from 1976 to 1981, a period which included the Iranian revolution and the hostage crisis.

After leaving government service, Sick served as Deputy Director for International Affairs at the Ford Foundation from 1982 to 1987, and is the executive director of the Gulf/2000 Project at Columbia University (1993–present). He is currently an adjunct professor of International Affairs at Columbia's School of International & Public Affairs, and a senior research scholar at SIPA's Middle East Institute. In addition to his professional duties, he sits on the board of directors of Human Rights Watch, and serves as founding chair of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch/Middle East.

See also

• William J. Casey

Writings

• All Fall Down: America's Tragic Encounter With Iran (Random House, 1985)
• October Surprise: America's Hostages in Iran and the Election of Ronald Reagan (Random House/Times Books, 1991)
• The Persian Gulf at the millennium: essays in politics, economy, security, and religion (St. Martin's Press, 1997)

External links

• gary's choices Sick's blog
• SourceWatch: Gulf/2000 Project
• Columbia University biography
• Video (with mp3 available) of discussion on current events with Sick on Bloggingheads.tv
• Booknotes interview with Sick on October Surprise, December 1, 1991.