Changing of the Guard
Veteran board chairman Chester Crocker steps down; energy industry consultant J. Robinson West assumes Institute leadership.
August/September 2004
Top to bottom: Chester Crocker, J. Robinson West
Noting that the health and vitality of institutions are measured by their capacity for self-renewal, Institute board chairman Chester Crocker stepped down from his position in July after twelve years at the helm of the Institute. The Institute's board of directors voted energy industry consultant J. Robinson West to be his replacement; anti-poverty activist Maria Otero will be the new vice-chair, replacing esteemed scholar Seymour Martin Lipset. Crocker and Lipset will remain on the Institute's board.
Richard Solomon, the president of the Institute, introduced Crocker at a farewell speech he delivered to the Institute staff in early August. "During his decade of board leadership," said Solomon, "Chet Crocker guided the Institute through a period of dramatic growth that enabled it to both reshape the teaching of international conflict management and become a leader of applied programs of reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction—in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq."
Crocker, the James R. Schlesinger Professor of Security Studies at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, was named to the board in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush and assumed the chairmanship in 1992. In his farewell address, Crocker thanked the many staff members who had contributed to the Institute's success over the years and reflected on the continuing importance of the Institute's mission: "I care deeply about this institution, which is so young, so important at this stage in our nation's history," said Crocker. "Neither a think tank nor a foundation, we combine the best of those breeds with the capacity—developed in tandem with our analytical work—to deliver programmatic resources, to transfer skills and knowledge, to help build the capacity of others."
Institute President Richard Solomon lauded retiring chairman Chester Crocker for his decade of leadership.
Crocker's own contributions to the analytical work of the Institute include writing or co-editing five volumes exploring the sources of contemporary conflicts and assessing possible responses to them. Crocker, who had been assistant secretary of state for Africa under President Reagan, was the principal diplomatic architect and mediator in the prolonged negotiations between Angola, Cuba, and South Africa that led to Namibia's transition to democratic governance and independence, and to the withdrawal of Cuban forces from Angola.
His published work reflects those experiences: His first volume for the Institute focused on African conflicts; his most recent work, co-authored with Pamela Aall and Fen Osler Hampson, titled Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases, lays out the steps involved in tackling the most stubborn conflicts, and has been praised as a "pathbreaking contribution to the understanding of conflict resolution and mediation." Solomon had high praise for Crocker's books, saying that they "attested to his contributions as an intellectual innovator, a teacher, a colleague, and a practitioner of the art of conflict management."
In his farewell speech, Crocker praised by name many present and past board members and staff who helped make the Institute what he called the "leading center of excellence … to enhance our knowledge and understanding of how to manage international conflict." From Father Ted Hesburgh, who served on the Institute's first board of directors, to many of today's support staff who keep the Institute running smoothly, Crocker's lengthy acknowledgments underscored his belief that "people, with all their unique qualities of vision, passion, drive, focus, commitment, [and] staying power," are the ultimate building blocks of quality institutions.
The Institute has come of age in a time of unparalleled historical discontinuities, Crocker noted, from the collapse of the Soviet Union, the upsurge of so-called ethnic conflict, the rise—and breakdown—of peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, the continuing economic boom in the Pacific Rim, and, of course, the dramatic impact of 9/11. All these events have challenged policymakers to rethink the traditional paradigms of U.S. national security strategy. The Institute has played a significant role in the wide-ranging debates that have ensued: for example, over the justice and viability of humanitarian intervention and the proper role for the United States in these interventions; over how to professionalize peacekeeping and get it right; over how to stabilize and reconcile societies in transition—via programs in the rule of law, religion, conflict skills training, and truth and justice commissions; and—now—over whether the Institute itself can become a useful element in U.S. strategy in the War on Terror while remaining true to its mandate to be an impartial mediator in conflicts.
It was his hope, Crocker said, that the Institute could go on contributing to both the intellectual and the practical sides of these issues. That means wrestling with such questions as whether the emphasis should be on managing conflict or on addressing the underlying conditions that breed conflict, on whether the Institute's practical work should focus on mediation or on developing the tools for effective state-building. The Institute, said Crocker, needs to think hard about how it can support our nation in the War on Terror, while at the same time maintain its third-party role as a conflict manager.
Concluding, Crocker reflected on the personal lessons he had drawn from his career, as well as on the enduring challenges facing the Institute. One of those lessons, he said, is that it is "not all bad to be independent, speak your mind, stand up for your principles, and fight the good fight." That was a lesson, he said, that applies not only to individuals, but to the Institute as well: "We were created independent and autonomous for a reason." Second, he said, Institute staff and board members have in recent years debated the question of whether the organization should be a think tank or a "do tank." This was, said Crocker, a "false and dangerous choice." The Institute, said Crocker, must develop and disseminate knowledge, as well as engage effectively in capacity building in zones of conflict: "No other American institution has the potential to do this on a global basis." Such a dual agenda helps link critical constituencies and establishes a feedback loop between the Institute's applied research and analytic work on the one hand and its operational programs in the field on the other. "So as I step down as chair, my message is that I hope the Institute remains committed to … being a place of reflection and a place of action in the interests of helping bring about a more peaceful world."
Incoming chair J. Robinson West and vice-chair Maria Otero spoke briefly following Crocker's remarks. Both praised Crocker for his role in putting the Institute "on the map," and both envisioned continuing along the path he laid. "I want to keep the Institute nonpartisan," said West, who served in various capacities under President Reagan. West is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations as well as the president of PFC Energy, an energy consulting firm. "For many in Washington, peacekeeping is very much a new idea, and when Iraq goes off the radar screen, some of these ideas may not stay at the center of concern." Nevertheless, said West, these are powerful ideas, and "they will continue to have enormous leverage in the years ahead." As for his own role, said West, "I have come to know the staff and have confidence in them. My job is to provide an environment in which people can succeed." He was grateful for the opportunity to oversee the work of an entity like the Institute: "I'm a romantic at heart, and want to be a part of something larger than myself. I'm very proud to be a part of this organization."
Vice-Chair Otero noted that she had spent her career working to help lift people out of poverty
and had come to realize that making peace is a necessary first step in that process. Otero is the president of Accíon International, a nonprofit that provides microlending to the poor. She praised Crocker: "What he has done is to raise the bar—he forced us to articulate issues in ways that relate to the Institute's core mission." He also helped build consensus among the board, said Otero, which has made working at the Institute a "real pleasure." Echoing West, Otero recognized that the greatest asset of the Institute is its people, and she pledged that the board's role would be "to help expand the reach and space of the Institute."
