Edward J. Perkins

Edward J. Perkins, former U.S. Ambassador, served as William J. Crowe Professor of Geopolitics and Executive Director of the International Programs Center at the University of Oklahoma from 1996 to 2007.

MR. AMBASSADOR
Warrior for Peace
Edward J. Perkins, with Connie Cronley
Foreword by George P. Schultz, Preface by David L. Boren
University of Oklahoma Press (2006)

"The memoir of Career Foreign Services Officer Edward J. Perkins, the first U.S. black ambassador to South Africa in 1986, comes to life in a hard-hitting memoir of politics and social change that will prove a 'must' for any seeking insights into South Africa under apartheid - and after. Perkins came from a cotton farm in segregated Louisiana to join forces with the elite Foreign Service, becoming the first black officer to ascend to director general. But even these many achievements would be superceded by his work in South Africa - and MR. AMBASSADOR: WARRIOR FOR PEACE tells it all."

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
West Coast Editor, Midwest Book Review

"Apartheid South Africa was on fire around me.”

So begins the memoir of Career Foreign Service Officer Edward J. Perkins, the first black United States ambassador to South Africa. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan gave him the unparalleled assignment: dismantle apartheid without violence.

As he fulfilled that assignment, Perkins was scourged by the American press, despised by the Afrikaner government, hissed at by white South African citizens, and initially boycotted by black South African revolutionaries, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu. His advice to President-elect George H. W. Bush helped modify American policy and hasten the release of Nelson Mandela and others from prison.

Perkins’s up-by-your-bootstraps life took him from a cotton farm in segregated Louisiana to the white elite Foreign Service, where he became the first black officer to ascend to the top position of director general.

This is the story of how one man turned the page of history. (from University of Oklahoma Press)

"A dynamic history of a time, a people, a nation, and one extraordinary man. Edward Perkins personifies the spirit of his nation."—Colleen McCullough, author of The Thorn Birds and The October Horse: A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra.

"Mr. Ambassador conveys what sophisticated and effective diplomacy is all about. A remarkable journey that should inspire, inform, and influence everyone it touches!" —Georgie Anne Geyer, Syndicated Columnist, Universal Press Syndicate

THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
Vision versus Reality
Joseph Ginat, Edward J. Perkins, Edwin G. Corr, editors
HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan (foreword), David L. Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma (preface)
University of Oklahoma Press (2003)

Political stability is a crucial precondition for peace in the Middle East. In The Middle East Peace Process: Vision versus Reality, Joseph Ginat, Edward J. Perkins, and Edwin G. Corr have assembled a comprehensive overview of the complex peace negotiations taking place among Middle Eastern nations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and forge normal relations between Arab nations and Israel. More than thirty academics and practitioners probe, discuss, and engage themselves with issues concerning the peace process. The volume focuses first on the Oslo Agreement and the Palestinian Track; then addresses Israeli relations with Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq; and concludes with an examination of relations between Israelis and Palestinians in Jerusalem.

The Middle East Peace Process is the result of the Center for Peace Studies conference "The Peace Process in the Middle East," co-sponsored by the International Programs Center at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Haifa in Israel. The volume features a foreword by HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan and a preface by David L. Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma.

DEMOCRACY, MORALITY, AND THE SEARCH FOR PEACE IN AMERICA'S FOREIGN POLICY
David L. Boren, Edward J. Perkins, editors
University of Oklahoma Press (2002)

University of Oklahoma president David L. Boren and Ambassador Edward J. Perkins explore United States foreign policy with the thoughts of thirteen renowned practitioners and scholars, including Lawrence Eagleburger, Paul Kennedy, Phyllis Oakley, George Mitchell, Lady Margaret Thatcher, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. (from University of Oklahoma Press)

"For any reader engrossed in world events and in 21st century world politics, Boren and Perkins’ book is required reading." Daily Oklahoman

PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
Transitional Positions and New Solutions
Joseph Ginat, Edward J. Perkins, editors
HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan (foreword), David L. Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma (preface)
University of Oklahoma Press (2002)

Based on a 1999 conference at the University of Oklahoma International Programs Center, Palestinian Refugees combines contributions from Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians, Americans, and Europeans. In addition to focusing on the Palestinian refugees, the essays present various proposals for solving the Palestinian problem. Organized in two parts, the volume presents both scholarly essays and position papers. The scholarly essays place current issues in historical context and explore and Palestinian belief in the "right of return" and questions of appropriate compensation. The position papers focus on policy and offer a variety of perspectives. Concluding the volume is a special essay on public polls that gauge how Palestinians and Israelis view the circumstances of Palestinian refugees and what they feel about possible solutions. Also featured in this book are a foreword by His Royal Highness Prince Hassan of Jordan, a preface by former U.S. Senator David L. Boren, and an introduction by volume editors Joseph Ginat and Edward J. Perkins.

PREPARING AMERICA'S FOREIGN POLICY FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
David L. Boren, Edward J. Perkins, editors
University of Oklahoma Press (1999)

"In 1997 and 1999 a very select group of analysts, practitioners, and scholars assembled at the University of Oklahoma to lay the groundwork for a new United States foreign policy that will promote our nation's ideals while protecting its vital interests in the post-cold war era. This carefully edited collection includes major policy statements and round-table discussions by the best minds of our time as they devise criteria for the employment of military force, economic and trade priorities, a broad covert intelligence mission, and the protection of our planet's ecology—all in the context of our pluralistic society and instantaneous global communication.

Beltway practitioners, serious students of foreign policy, and concerned lay people will find this a must-read book in today's global economy, where mid-level powers possess weapons of mass destruction, and internal wars and terrorism are on the increase. This book about the opportunities and challenges facing the United States will also be widely read in courses on international relations and foreign policy."

"What a wonderful array of experts, whose writing is fresh and whose insights are up to date! The individual contributions are of the quality one would expect during a presidential briefing at the White House." – Lock K. Johnson, author of America as a World Power.

Contributors: David M. Abshire, Mikael S. Adolphson, Jan C. Berris, Max N. Berry, David L. Boren, Alfred S. Bradford, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Luke R. Corbett, Edwin G. Corr, Richard A. Cosier, Robert H. Cox, William J. Crowe, Jr., Lee Cullum, David Dary, Marlan Downey, Archie Dunham, J. Rufus Fears, Robert M. Gates, David R. Gergen, Rajeev Gowda, Richard M. Helms, Jim L. Hoagland, James R. Jones, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Henry A. Kissinger, Li Daoyu, Colleen McCullough, George C. McGhee, Francis J. McNeil, Jack F. Matlock, John Milewski, Walter Mondale, Sam Nunn, Robert Oakley, Michel Oksenberg, Edward J. Perkins, W. DeVier Pierson, Michael F. Price, Peter W. Rodman, Lois Romano, Richard L. Sandor, Robert A. Scalapino, Stephen Sloan, Gaddis Smith, George J. Tenet, Zev M. Trachtenberg, William H. Webster, John S. Wolf, R. James Woolsey, Clayton K. Yeutter, Zhou Dunren." (from University of Oklahoma Press)

"Boren (a former US senator and now president of the Univ. of Oklahoma) and Perkins (a former ambassador and director of the Univ. of Oklahoma's International Programs Center) have put together contributions from some of the heaviest hitters in the field of foreign policy. National security advisors (notably Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinzki), ambassadors, and the like abound. In all, they cover about every aspect of US foreign policy one can think of: relations with particular nations (especially China), military challenges, intelligence gathering, trade policy, environmental policy, the role of the media. While each piece stands alone, collectively the book reveals an overall elite consensus on what the US faces in the world and what it should do in the world. Relief that the Cold War is over is mixed with a muted nostalgia for the certainties of that era, when the US was the leader of the Free World, and that was that. Today, among emerging and competing power centers in a world of increasing complexity, Americas role is less clear. But it must avoid a retreat into isolationism when facing diplomatic, trade, and, somewhat more cautiously, military challenges. National bipartisan consensus should be reached on just what values and goals the US wishes to pursue, and domestic issues must not be allowed to interfere too deeply in the pursuit of this national interest...." (from Kirkus Reviews)