Special envoys or representatives have been used by nearly every administration to address high-stakes conflicts and to address situations with a degree of attention outside the capacity of the State Department and other regular bureaucratic structures. This report focuses on the issues surrounding the use of special envoys or representatives and how they can be used most effectively.

Summary

  • Special envoys or representatives (SE/SRs) have been used by nearly every administration to address high-stakes conflicts. They are most useful when a conflict situation is of major importance to the United States, has strong regional as well as bilateral aspects, and exceeds the State Department’s capacity to address it.
  • To be effective, an SE/SR must be recognizably empowered by the president and the secretary of state, have clear mandates, and enjoy a degree of latitude beyond normal bureaucratic restrictions.
  • While the secretary of state needs to be actively engaged in the conflict resolution process, the envoy should be sufficiently empowered to ensure that the secretary’s interventions are strategic.
  • Chemistry matters: in minimizing tensions between the SE/SR and the relevant State Department regional bureau and with ambassadors in the field, in overcoming State-White House rivalries over policy control, and in mobilizing support of allies. There are no “cookie cutter” solutions to overlapping responsibilities and the envoy’s need for staff and resources; rather, mutual respect and flexibility are key.
  • Senior State Department officials have the required skills for assignments as SE/SRs. Enhancing the department’s resources and reinforcing the ranks of senior department positions would increase such appointments and the department’s capacity to support them.

About the Report

This report is based on two group meetings and over twenty individual interviews with current and former envoys and other officials and on their memoirs and published reflections. We consulted envoys who had addressed conflicts involving Northern Ireland, the Balkans, North Korea, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan/South Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Literature review also covered other situations, including Mozambique, Angola, and Sri Lanka. Most interviews were with Americans, although UN, European Union, UK, Norwegian, and Chinese envoys provided further insights. We also drew on an earlier United States Institute of Peace (USIP) study of the use of special envoys and other studies of this diplomatic practice.

About the Authors

Princeton N. Lyman spent forty years in the US diplomatic service. Appointments included deputy assistant secretary of state for African Affairs, ambassador to Nigeria, director of the Bureau for Population and Refugee Affairs, ambassador to South Africa, assistant secretary of state for International Organization Affairs, and presidential special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. He is currently senior adviser to the president of USIP. Robert M. Beecroft is a career minister-counselor (retired) in the U.S. Foreign Service, with posts across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He is also an American Academy of Diplomacy member and chairs the Academy’s program committee. Among other diplomatic assignments, he served at NATO (SHAPE/Belgium) as Deputy Political Advisor to the NATO Supreme Commander; in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary; in Amman and Ouagadougou as Deputy Chief of Mission; and twice in Sarajevo – first as Special Envoy for the Bosnian Federation, later as Ambassador and Head of the OSCE Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2011, he conducted an in-depth report for the American Academy of Diplomacy on the professional education and training of U.S. Foreign Service Officers.


Latest Publications

U.S. Concerns Over ‘Axis of Authoritarianism’ Cloud Final Biden-Xi Meeting

U.S. Concerns Over ‘Axis of Authoritarianism’ Cloud Final Biden-Xi Meeting

Thursday, November 21, 2024

With President Joe Biden’s presidential term ending in a few weeks, expectations for his final meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping were modest, especially considering the broader frictions in U.S.-China relations. Biden and Xi met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru on November 16. The meeting highlighted the importance of maintaining open communications channels to manage the two powers’ many differences.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

China’s Global Security Initiative Takes Shape in Southeast and Central Asia

China’s Global Security Initiative Takes Shape in Southeast and Central Asia

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched the Global Security Initiative (GSI) in April 2022, it has been used in China’s efforts to expand its international security role and reshape global order. Drawing on field research and discussions with regional policymakers and experts, this report looks at Beijing’s progress in implementing and operationalizing the GSI in the priority regions of mainland Southeast Asia and Central Asia, and it examines key policy implications, explaining why the initiative warrants greater attention on the part of the US policy community.

Type: Special Report

Global Policy

A Delicate Balance: Promoting Nuclear Energy While Preventing Proliferation

A Delicate Balance: Promoting Nuclear Energy While Preventing Proliferation

Thursday, November 21, 2024

As global energy demands intensify and the urgency of addressing climate shocks mounts, the role of nuclear energy has come to the forefront of discussions for governments, businesses and those concerned about sustainable development. Just last week, the Biden administration released a plan to triple U.S. nuclear capacity by 2050. While nuclear energy promises efficiency gains and significant emissions reductions, public opinion remains divided about the tradeoffs of increased investment, the safety risks and the implications for international security. This puts the U.S. at a crossroads as it tries to navigate its role in a world with new demands for nuclear energy and heightened risks of conflict between nuclear-armed states. Such risks were highlighted this week when Russia lowered its nuclear threshold in response to new U.S. authorizations for Ukraine to use long-range weapons.

Type: Analysis

EnvironmentGlobal Policy

Iraq’s Lingering ISIS Challenge and the Role of Dialogue in Return and Reintegration

Iraq’s Lingering ISIS Challenge and the Role of Dialogue in Return and Reintegration

Thursday, November 21, 2024

With conflicts raging in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan, concerns related to the extremist group ISIS may seem overtaken by these other conflicts. After all, Iraq declared the group’s military defeat in 2017 after the territory held by the extremists was retaken by Iraqi government forces in partnership with the United States. Yet just over a month ago, U.S. and Iraqi forces conducted a joint military raid against the group, killing nine senior ISIS leaders who were hiding in the rugged Hamrin Mountains in northern Iraq. This raid comes off the heels of the UK’s domestic intelligence chief stating that the group is positioning itself as a resurgent threat. Indeed, ISIS has conducted over 150 attacks so far this year in Iraq and Syria, more than those claimed by the group in 2023.

Type: Analysis

ReconciliationViolent Extremism

Four Questions that Could Determine Haiti’s Future

Four Questions that Could Determine Haiti’s Future

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Much has happened in Haiti over the past two weeks — none of it is reassuring. The Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) fired Prime Minister Garry Conille on November 10, after only six months in office. Moments before an interim prime minister was sworn in the next day, a U.S. commercial airliner was struck by gunfire, forcing a pause in flights to Haiti’s international airport. These developments underscore the reality facing Haiti's interim government and the immense challenges it faces in achieving a transition by February 2026, as outlined in an April 3, 2024 agreement. Given this dysfunction, Haitians and their international partners are rightly concerned that the country’s evolving political and security crisis will only further deepen.

Type: Analysis

Fragility & Resilience

View All Publications