Alan Greeley Misenheimer
Diplomat-Author-Educator: Ancient Wisdom for Today's National Security Strategy
“This is a truly important work that US citizens should read to avoid the mistakes of the past, including recently in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, regarding war and peace.”
— Tobias Winwright, professor of moral theology, St. Patrick’s Pontifical University
ABOUT
Dr. Alan Greeley Misenheimer is a thirty-five-year career diplomat with the US State Department. His assignments focused on areas of conflict in the Near East, North Africa, and Central Asia, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen. He is fluent in Arabic and resides in Washington, DC.
Service as a Peace Corps teacher in Morocco ignited his passion for diplomacy and cross-cultural understanding. Throughout his wide-ranging career, including multiple stints as advisor to senior US military commanders, Misenheimer worked to promote peace, stability and diplomatic engagement in critical regions.
As Counselor for Peace and Reconciliation in Afghanistan, Misenheimer took part in sensitive, multi-agency efforts to foster a negotiated peace.
In Iraq, he served as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, and later as the U.S. Ambassador’s Senior Advisor for Northern Affairs. He resolved flash points and built connections between the Kurds and Sunni Arabs in Kirkuk Province, and liaised with other minority communities in a uniquely complex and challenging environment.
Misenheimer was recognized with numerous accolades and awards from both the State Department (including The Secretary’s Career Achievement Award and five Superior Honor Awards) and the Defense Department (including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Distinguished Civilian Service Award and the Defense Civilian Achievement Award).
In addition to his diplomatic service, Misenheimer shared his expertise through graduate-level teaching, including a two-year tenure at the National War College. His academic conferences and lectures emphasized the vital integration of ancient history, ethics and political theory into policy formulation and diplomatic practice.
Dr. Misenheimer’s educational background reflects his life-long focus on classical authors as a resource for contemporary strategists. He holds a Doctorate in Liberal Studies and a MS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, as well as a BA in Classics and Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His retirement marks the culmination of a distinguished career devoted to advancing American interests and fostering peace and stability in some of the world’s most challenging regions.
PUBLICATIONS
The notion of a “Thucydides Trap” that will ensnare China and the United States in a 21st century conflict—much as the rising power of Athens alarmed Sparta and made war “inevitable” between the Aegean superpowers of the 5th century BCE—has received global attention since entering the international relations lexicon six years ago. Scholars, journalists, bloggers, and politicians in many countries, notably China, have embraced this beguiling metaphor, coined by Harvard political science professor Graham Allison, as a framework for examining the likelihood of a Sino-American war.
American diplomats in the Near East work in an environment that can transform instantly from hieratic welcome to chaotic hostility. We prepare for this by studying strategy and human behavior, mastering techniques of influence and persuasion, cultivating fluency in the languages, cultures, and history of the region, and practicing the science of personal and institutional security that State’s Diplomatic Security Bureau has advanced dramatically over recent decades. Since diplomacy is an ancient profession, predating the modern state by millennia, we also benefit from the study of ancient sources.
Alan Greeley Misenheimer 