Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (born March 22, 1951, in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan) is an Afghan-American diplomat, foreign policy expert, and businessman. Raised in Kabul, he came to the United States as a high school exchange student and was educated at the American University of Beirut and the University of Chicago, where he earned a doctorate studying under nuclear strategist Albert Wohlstetter. His early career included academic roles at Columbia University (1979–1989) and as an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego, followed by work as a senior political scientist directing strategy programs at RAND Corporation and involvement with the Middle East Studies Center there. He was a signatory of the Project for the New American Century's founding statement and its 1998 letter to President Clinton calling for the removal of Saddam Hussein. Khalilzad's government service spanned five presidential administrations, beginning under Reagan as a State Department advisor on the Soviet-Afghan War and the Iran-Iraq War (1985–1989), followed by roles in the George H.W. Bush Pentagon. In the George W. Bush administration, he served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Southwest Asia, Near East, and North African Affairs at the National Security Council, Special Presidential Envoy to Afghanistan, and oversaw the drafting of both the Afghan and Iraqi constitutions. He holds the unique distinction of serving as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (2003–2005), where he played a key role in post-9/11 nation-building efforts; U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (2005–2007); and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2007–2009)—the only person to have held all three posts. From 2018 to 2021, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appointed him as U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation (also referred to as special envoy for Afghanistan peace negotiations), where he led peace talks with the Taliban and negotiated the February 2020 Doha Agreement, setting the stage for the U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban's return to power in August 2021—a deal that generated intense criticism from Afghan officials and some U.S. lawmakers who blamed him for the collapse of the Afghan republic. He resigned the post in October 2021 and has continued diplomatic engagement, including recent visits to Kabul to meet Taliban officials. Between government stints, Khalilzad founded international consulting firms Gryphon Partners and Khalilzad Associates, advising companies in energy, construction, and infrastructure in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other frontier markets. His consulting work drew scrutiny, particularly his mid-1990s advisory role for Cambridge Energy Research Associates on behalf of Unocal regarding a proposed Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline, during which he publicly advocated U.S. engagement with the Taliban and attended a 1997 reception for a Taliban delegation in Houston. He has been involved with various think tanks and boards, including the Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), America Abroad Media (AAM), the Atlantic Council, and several American universities in the region. Known for his expertise in Middle East and South Asian policy, he has significantly influenced U.S. policy in the region. Khalilzad's career has also faced controversy, including a 2014 Austrian investigation into suspected money laundering involving approximately $1.4 million transferred to his wife Cheryl Benard's Viennese bank accounts, allegedly linked to oil and construction deals in Iraq and the UAE; the accounts were frozen but later unfrozen by the Higher Regional Court of Vienna, and no charges were ever filed in any jurisdiction. He resides in Maryland and holds dual nationality.