First modification:
The Hoover Institute, of which he was a distinguished member, confirmed on Sunday the death of George Shultz, the expert in diplomacy who served in three governments, including the Administration of President Ronald Reagan, in which he served as secretary of state and played a role. determining factor in the end of the Cold War.
George Shultz, who served as Secretary of State in the government of US President Ronald Reagan, has died at 100 years of age. It helped forge a new era in relations between the United States and the then Soviet Union, and its role was instrumental in ending the Cold War.
Although the causes of his death have not been disclosed yet, Shultz died at his residence on the Stanford University campus, where he was a distinguished member of the Hoover Institute, according to the institution based in California, USA.
Trained in economics and philosophy, Shultz achieved success with extensive experience in diplomacy, business, and academia. He served in three governments of his country and held four senior positions: Secretary of Labor, Secretary of the Treasury and Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Presidency of Richard Nixon (1969 and 1974). He previously served on the Council of Economic Advisers to Republican President Dwight Eisenhower (1953 – 1961).
But without a doubt, his greatest political recognition was reached as head of US diplomacy between 1982 and 1989, a period that coincided with the last years of the Cold War, as he is considered a key figure at the end of this period, which began after the World War II with direct competition between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Qualified as a firm, patient and discreet man, he managed to complete a landmark treaty to eliminate the superpowers’ medium-range nuclear missiles and set a pattern for the dealings between Moscow and Washington, which made human rights a routine issue in the diary.
Also former secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and current director of the Hoover Institution, said in a statement that Shultz “will go down in history as a man who made the world a better place.”
Failing to achieve peace in the Middle East and Central America, Shultz’s frustrations
His record of success as secretary of state was marred by failing to achieve peace in the Middle East and Central America, areas in which he invested great efforts.
Following the October 1983 bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut that killed 241 American soldiers, Shultz worked tirelessly to end Lebanon’s brutal civil war. He spent countless hours of diplomacy between the capitals of the Middle East trying to ensure the withdrawal of the Israeli forces deployed in the region.
Experience led him to believe that stability in the region could only be guaranteed with a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, so he undertook an ambitious mission, to bring the parties to the negotiating table, although his attempts were unsuccessful.
Although it did not meet its goal of putting the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in the course of a peace agreement, it paved the way for the efforts of at least several subsequent administrations that legitimized the Palestinians as a people with a valid interest in determining your future.
On the other hand, he was the protagonist of a strong disagreement with President Reagan on the secret sale of arms to Iran in 1985, something that the then president supported in order to ensure the release of American hostages held in Lebanon by Hezbollah militants.
Lawmakers praised Shultz’s opposition. However, he was unable to stop those deals. The president went ahead with the deal and millions of dollars from Iran went to the Contra guerrillas, who were fighting against the Nicaraguan government. The scandal marred Reagan’s second term.
The expert on American diplomacy remained active until the 1990s in the think tank of the Hoover Institution of Stanford University and elsewhere.
He also wrote books and spoke out against the embargo on Cuba, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, and former President Donald Trump’s resistance to international agreements, including his country’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
.
source https://pledgetimes.com/george-shultz-former-secretary-of-state-who-helped-end-the-cold-war-dies-at-100/
Disqus comments