Ambassador Edward Peck, retired, an expert on Middle East politics and diplomatic relations address a full house of faculty, students and staff Friday morning. His presentation, entitled "Neither Quick Nor Easy: Doing What's Best for America, Israel, Palestine and the Middle East - An Effort to Provoke Thoughts - Not People," was one of three he made in the Raleigh Area.
Ambassador Edward Peck is an expert on the Middle East and on security and terrorism. Ambassador Peck’s 32 years of service with the State Department included serving as President Reagan’s Deputy Director of the Cabinet Task Force on Terrorism; serving as Chief of Mission in Baghdad, Iraq for President Carter; and serving as the State Department Deputy Director of Covert Intelligence Programs.
Peck also served as a Foreign Service Officer in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, and as Ambassador in Mauritania. Peck served as Director of the Office of Egyptian Affairs, as Liaison Officer to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as a Fellow at the Institute for Higher Defense Studies at the Pentagon while with the State Department.
Ambassador Peck retired to become Executive Secretary of the American Academy of Diplomacy in Washington, D.C., and was later named Chairman of Political Tradecraft programs at the National Foreign Affairs Training Center in Northern Virginia. Peck is a member of the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, a Distinguished Visitor at the National War College, and a Woodrow Wilson Foundation Visiting Fellow. The retired ambassador also serves on the Board of Directors of Americans for Middle East Understanding.
A former paratrooper in the U.S. Army, Ambassador Peck rose from private to Captain. Peck earned a Bachelor of Science degree from UCLA, and an M.B.A from George Washington University. He has served as a commentator and resource for MSNBC, Fox News, and Democracy Now. Mr. Peck advocates for even handedness in US foreign policy in the Middle East, including Israel and Palestine, and was a passenger on the May 2010 Gaza Aid Flotilla that was intercepted in international waters with the loss of 9 lives. He is currently writing a book with the working title “Peck's Postulates: The Four Keys to Total Understanding of International Relations - You already know them, but may not have considered their application".
The presentation at Shaw was part of a speaking tour that included stops at North Carolina State and Meredith.