Victoria Nuland

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Victoria Nuland
Official portrait, 2021
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Assumed office
May 3, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byDavid Hale
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
In office
September 18, 2013 – January 20, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
DeputyJohn A. Heffern[1]
Preceded byPhilip Gordon
Succeeded byJohn A. Heffern (Acting)
Spokesperson for the United States Department of State
In office
May 31, 2011 – April 5, 2013
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byPhilip Crowley
Succeeded byJen Psaki
United States Ambassador to NATO
In office
June 20, 2005 – May 2, 2008
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Preceded byNicholas Burns
Succeeded byKurt Volker
Personal details
Born
Victoria Jane Nuland

(1961-07-01) July 1, 1961 (age 62)
New York, New York, U.S.
SpouseRobert Kagan
EducationBrown University (BA)

Victoria Jane Nuland (born July 1, 1961) is an American diplomat currently serving as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Nuland, a former member of the foreign service, served as the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State from 2013 to 2017 and US Permanent Representative to NATO from 2005 to 2008.[2][3] She held the rank of Career Ambassador, the highest diplomatic rank in the United States Foreign Service.[4] She is the former CEO of the Center for a New American Security, (CNAS), serving from January 2018 until early 2019, and is also the Brady-Johnson Distinguished Practitioner in Grand Strategy at Yale University, and a member of the board of the National Endowment for Democracy. She served as a nonresident fellow in the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution[5] and senior counselor at the Albright Stonebridge Group.[6]

Early life and education

Nuland was born in 1961 to Sherwin B. Nuland, a surgeon born to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants,[7] and a Christian British native mother, Rhona McKhann, née Goulston.[8] She graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1979.[9] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University in 1983, where she studied Russian literature, political science, and history.[10]

Career

Nuland meeting with Georgian defense ministry leadership, December 6, 2013
John Kerry and Victoria Nuland with Ukrainian opposition leaders Poroshenko, Yatsenyuk and Klitschko, Munich, February 1, 2014

From 1993 to 1996, during Bill Clinton's presidency, Nuland was chief of staff to Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott before moving on to serve as deputy director for former Soviet Union affairs.[11] From 2003 to 2005, Nuland served as the principal deputy foreign policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, exercising an influential role during the Iraq War.[citation needed] From 2005 to 2008, during President George W. Bush's second term, Nuland served as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, where she concentrated on mobilizing European support for the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan.[12] In the summer of 2011, Nuland became special envoy for Conventional Armed Forces in Europe[13] and then became State Department spokesperson.[14]

In May 2013, Nuland was nominated to act as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs[15] and was sworn in on September 18, 2013.[16] In her role as assistant secretary, she managed diplomatic relations with 50 countries in Europe and Eurasia, as well as with NATO, the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Ukraine

Nuland was the lead U.S. point person for the Revolution of Dignity, establishing loan guarantees to Ukraine, including a $1 billion loan guarantee in 2014, and the provisions of non-lethal assistance to the Ukrainian military and border guard.[17][18] Along with Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, she is seen as a leading supporter of defensive weapons delivery to Ukraine. In 2016, Nuland urged Ukraine to start prosecuting corrupt officials: "It's time to start locking up people who have ripped off the Ukrainian population for too long and it is time to eradicate the cancer of corruption".[19] While serving as the Department of State's lead diplomat on the Ukraine crisis, Nuland pushed European allies to take a harder line on Russian expansionism.[20]

On February 4, 2014, a recording of a phone call between Nuland and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, on January 28, 2014, was published on YouTube.[21] [22][23][24][25][26] In their phone conversation, Nuland and Pyatt were having a discussion about the make up of next Ukrainian government. Nuland told Pyatt that Arseniy Yatsenyuk would be the best candidate to become the next Prime Minister of Ukraine.[22][23] Nuland suggested the United Nations, rather than European Union should be involved in a political solution in Kiev, saying that “So that would be great, I think, to help glue this thing and have the U.N. help glue it and you know ... fuck the EU”. The following day, Christiane Wirtz, Deputy Government Spokesperson and Deputy Head of the Press and Information Office of the German Federal Government, stated that German Chancellor Angela Merkel termed Nuland's remark "absolutely unacceptable."[27] The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, condemned the remark as "unacceptable".[28][29] Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki said the discussion was not evidence of any American plan to influence the political outcome, remarking that "It shouldn't be a surprise that at any point there have been discussions about recent events and offers and what is happening on the ground".[30]

During a June 7, 2016, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing titled "Russian Violations of Borders, Treaties, and Human Rights", Nuland described U.S. diplomatic outreach to the former Soviet Union and efforts to build a constructive relationship with Russia. During her testimony, Nuland noted Russia's 2014 invasion of Ukraine which she said, "shattered any remaining illusions about this Kremlin's willingness to abide by international law or live by the rules of the institutions that Russia joined at the end of the Cold War."[31]

Trump administration

Nuland left the State Department in January 2017, amid the departure of many career officials who left in the early days of the Trump administration.[32]

On January 24, 2018, The Washington Post published an interview with Nuland where she opined on the work of President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. She described an exodus of career foreign service officials and dysfunction within the State Department, and stated that the American judiciary and media were under assault. Nuland also decried a trend towards American isolationism, stating: "When we withdraw and say it's every nation for itself, you open the door for countries dissatisfied with their territorial position and influence in the international system — or with the system itself." She encouraged whole-government responses to international issues, stating, "Military leaders would be the first to say military solutions alone result in more and longer military entanglements. The role of American diplomats and political leaders is to work concurrently with the military to bring to bear all of the political tools we have."[33]

In January 2018, the Trump administration began new high-level engagements with Russian government officials by scheduling a meeting between Russia's top general Valery Gerasimov and the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti. Nuland stated, "These channels are especially vital at a time when relations at the leader level are so unpredictable." She said Scaparrotti was "uniquely positioned" to address concerns about Russia's "ongoing military role in Ukraine, its INF treaty violations, its active measures to undermine Transatlantic democracies and the other strategic tensions that are driving the US and its allies to take stronger deterrent measures."[34]

Biden administration

Nuland with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in May 2021

On January 5, 2021, it was reported that President-elect Joe Biden would nominate Nuland to serve as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs under Secretary-designate Antony Blinken.[3] Hearings on Nuland's nomination were held by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on April 15, 2021. The committee favorably reported Nuland's nomination on April 21, 2021. On April 29, 2021, her nomination was confirmed by the entire Senate by voice vote, and she started her work as Under Secretary of State on May 3, 2021.[35]

Tenure

Nuland at a State Department press briefing in 2022

In March 2022, Nuland expressed concern that Russia would get control of Ukraine's biological research facilities during its invasion of Ukraine.[36][37][38]

Nuland visited Delhi in March 2022 and suggested that there was an "evolution of thinking in India". She said that the US and Europe should be "defense and security partners" of India, and that Russia's invasion of Ukraine presents a "major inflection point in the autocratic-democratic struggle".[39].

Personal life

Nuland's husband, Robert Kagan, is a historian, foreign policy commentator at the Brookings Institution, and co-founder in 1998 of the neoconservative Project for the New American Century (PNAC),[40] with whom she has two children, David and Elena. She speaks Russian and French, and some Chinese.

References

  1. ^ "Bureau Senior Officials". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
  2. ^ "Bureau of Public Affairs Front Office Changes". U.S. Department of State.
  3. ^ a b "Biden to tap more Obama vets to fill key national security roles". POLITICO. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "PN1907 - 2 nominees for Foreign Service, 114th Congress (2015-2016)". December 7, 2016.
  5. ^ "Victoria Nuland". April 2, 2019.
  6. ^ "Press Release: Victoria Nuland Rejoins ASG". Albright Stonebridge Group. April 18, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  7. ^ "Sherwin Nuland – Physician – Why I Had to Change My Name". Web of Stories.
  8. ^ Victoria Nuland (1961–), U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian.
  9. ^ "Choate Notable Alumni". Choate Rosemary Hall. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Schwartzapfel, Beth (April 2013). "ALUMS IN THE STATE DEPT: No Praying from the Podium". Brown Alumni Magazine.
  11. ^ "Biden to name Sherman, Nuland to top diplomatic posts: sources". Reuters. January 5, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  12. ^ "Victoria Nuland". Brookings. April 2, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  13. ^ "Ambassador Victoria Nuland". NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY. January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  14. ^ "Victoria Nuland to be State Department spokesman". Foreign Policy. May 16, 2011.
  15. ^ "Obama nominates Nuland for assistant secretary of state". Politico. May 23, 2013.[1] Archived July 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Swearing-in Ceremony for Victoria Nuland as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs". Retrieved April 1, 2015.
  17. ^ "Nuland On Ukraine". Voice of America. March 17, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  18. ^ Victoria Nuland (March 4, 2015). "Testimony on Ukraine Before the House Foreign Affairs Committee". U.S. State Department. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  19. ^ Isabela Cocoli (April 27, 2016). "US Urges Ukraine to Jail Corrupt Officials". Voice of America. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  20. ^ "The Undiplomatic Diplomat". Foreign Policy. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  21. ^ Re Post (February 4, 2014). "Марионетки Майдана" [Puppets in the Public Square (marionetke maidana)]. YouTube. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  22. ^ a b "Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call", BBC News, February 7, 2014, retrieved October 9, 2014
  23. ^ a b Chiacu, Doina; Mohammed, Arshad (February 6, 2014). "Leaked audio reveals embarrassing U.S. exchange on Ukraine, EU". Reuters. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  24. ^ "BBC News - Victoria Nuland: Leaked phone call 'impressive tradecraft'". BBC Online. February 7, 2014. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  25. ^ Pilkington, Ed; Harding, Luke (February 7, 2014). "Angela Merkel: Victoria Nuland's remarks on EU are unacceptable". The Guardian. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  26. ^ Chiacu, Doina; Mohammed, Arshad (February 6, 2014). "Leaked audio reveals embarrassing U.S. exchange on Ukraine, EU". Reuters.
  27. ^ Pilkington, Ed; Harding, Luke (February 7, 2014). "Angela Merkel: Victoria Nuland's remarks on EU are unacceptable". The Guardian.
  28. ^ "U.S. diplomat plays down leaked call; Germany's Merkel angry". Reuters. February 7, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  29. ^ Kauffmann, Sylvie (February 9, 2014), "Les cinq leçons du " fuck the EU ! " d'une diplomate américaine" [The five lessons of "fuck the EU" from an American diplomat], Le Monde, retrieved February 9, 2014
  30. ^ Gearan, Anne (February 6, 2014). "In recording of U.S. diplomat, blunt talk on Ukraine". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  31. ^ Nuland, Victoria (June 7, 2016). "U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing Transcript of June 7, 2016" (PDF). www.senate.gov.
  32. ^ Labott, Elise (January 27, 2017). "Trump administration asks top State Department officials to leave". CNN.
  33. ^ Rubin, Jennifer (January 24, 2018). "Opinion | A year of Trump foreign policy: More is broken than the State Department". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  34. ^ Hudson, John (January 7, 2018). "Trump Administration Set for Broad Engagement with Russia in Early 2018". BuzzFeed. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  35. ^ "PN120 — Victoria Nuland — Department of State". U.S. Congress. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  36. ^ "Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Testifies on Ukraine | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org.
  37. ^ "In Ukraine, US-military-linked labs could provide fodder for Russian disinformation". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  38. ^ "Analysis | How the right embraced Russian disinformation about 'U.S. bioweapons labs' in Ukraine". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  39. ^ "Ukraine: India 'feeling the heat' over neutrality". BBC News. March 25, 2022. Retrieved March 28, 2022.
  40. ^ "Were 1998 Memos a Blueprint for War?". ABC News. Retrieved January 10, 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victoria Nuland.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to NATO
2005–2008 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Spokesperson for the United States Department of State
2011–2013 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
2013–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
2021–present 		Incumbent
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