About the Event:

This May, Ambassador David Satterfield concluded his role as the U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues. Following the brutal, terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7^th, President Biden appointed him to serve in this vital diplomatic position.

As U.S. Special Envoy, Ambassador Satterfield led U.S. efforts in coordination with the U.N., USAID and U.S. partners in the region to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. His work also continued broader, years long endeavors by the U.S. to increase stability and cooperation between nations across the Middle East.

Ambassador Satterfield served in numerous senior diplomatic leadership capacities in the Department of State under Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden – including: Assistant Secretary of State; Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa; Ambassador to Turkey; Ambassador to Lebanon; Charge’ d’Affaires (Acting Ambassador) in Iraq & Egypt; Director of Arab & Arab-Israeli Affairs; and other critical positions.

Ambassador Satterfield will discuss the dire realities of the Israel-Hamas War and the severe price being paid by Palestinian and Israeli civilians. He will examine what paths might eventually lead to a truce or a meaningful reduction in violence. Ambassador Satterfield will also address what role the U.S. and our key partner nations in the region might play to foster any longer-term possibilities for a sustainable peace.

About the Speaker:

U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues David Satterfield
– Fmr. U.S. Ambassador to Turkey & Jordan

From October 2023 to May 2024, the Honorable David M. Satterfield served as the U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues to lead U.S. diplomacy in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Satterfield is the Director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and leads the institute’s Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East. He is also the Janice and Robert McNair Chair in Public Policy. He has more than four decades of diplomatic and leadership experience, including service as special envoy for the Horn of Africa, assistant secretary of state, National Security Council staff director and as ambassador to Lebanon and Turkey and charge’ d’affaires in Iraq and Egypt.

Satterfield’s extensive bilateral and multinational negotiating background most notably includes the 1995 Roadmap for Israel-Palestinian Peace (with the United Nations), the 2000 withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from Lebanon and Blue Line boundary agreement (with the United Nations), and the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement between the U.S. and Iraq. As the State Department’s coordinator for Iraq, he managed the largest domestic staff in the department’s history and directed fundamental reforms to the Foreign Service.

As director general of the Multinational Force and Observers, Satterfield conceived and directed the comprehensive modernization of military and civilian peacekeeping operations and led fundraising efforts with the U.S. Congress and donor governments.

Among other honors, Satterfield is the recipient of the highest Department of State recognition, the Secretary of State Distinguished Service Award, and the highest award for senior federal executives, the Office of Personnel Management Distinguished Federal Executive Rank Award.

Satterfield is a graduate of the University of Maryland and speaks Arabic, French and Italian. He is married to Elizabeth Ann Fritschle, a career Foreign Service officer.