Iklé taught political science at MIT (1964-67). He also worked at the RAND Corporation and at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, where he met Henry Kissinger, who as Richard Nixon’s national security advisor, recruited Iklé to government service in 1973. Iklé headed the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1973-77). As Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Reagan administration (1981-87), he led the effort to lobby for National Security Decision Directive 166 (“Expanded US Aid to Afghan Guerrillas”) and to supply the rebels with Stinger missiles, a proposal initially opposed by the CIA, the State Department, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Iklé is credited with a key role in increasing US aid to anti-Soviet rebels in the Soviet–Afghan War.
In 1988, Iklé joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He was a Commissioner on the National Commission on Terrorism, and served for nine years as Director of the National Endowment for Democracy. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the Department of Defense’s Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee.
He also co-chaired the bipartisan Commission on Integrated Long-Term Strategy, which published the remarkably prescient “Discriminate Deterrence” strategy document in January 1988. In 1975 and 1987, Iklé received the Department of Defense’s highest civilian award, the Medal for Distinguished Public Service and in 1988, the Bronze Palm. He served as chairman of the Board of the Telos Corporation and as a director of the Zurich-American Insurance Companies. He was a Director of CMC Energy Services and served as Governor of the Smith Richardson Foundation and as founding Director of the US Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK).
Iklé authored numerous articles on defense, foreign policy and arms control, including his influential 1961 “After Detection — What?” in Foreign Affairs, and several books including How Nations Negotiate and Every War Must End.
Click on the cover for details about the eBook:
