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Columbia Encyclopedia: Habib, Philip Charles
(häbēb') , 1920–92, American diplomat, b. New York City. A career foreign service officer (1949–80), he served in various embassy and State Dept. posts. Habib took part in negotiations that led to the Paris peace accords with North Vietnam and the Camp David accords, and was ambassador to South Korea (1971–74). He later served (1981–83) as special envoy to the Middle East, where he negotiated a cease-fire in Lebanon (1982); to the Philippines (1986), where he helped persuade Ferdinand Marcos to step down; and to Central America (1986–87).
 
 
Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia: Philip Charles Habib

1920 - 1994

U.S. diplomat.

Philip Charles Habib was U.S. president Ronald Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East, 1981 - 1983. In the summer of 1981, he negotiated with Syria for the removal of ground-to-air missiles in Lebanon; in August, he brokered a cease-fire agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel that lasted until June 1982.

After Israel invaded Lebanon on 6 June (the 1982 Arab - Israel War), Habib negotiated another series of cease-fires but none lasted. In late 1982, Habib, ignoring Syria, supervised formal negotiations between Israel and the Lebanese government of President Amin Jumayyil, which resulted in the May 1983 agreement ending the war. Implementation of the agreement was contingent on Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, however, and following Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad's refusal to withdraw, Habib lost favor with President Reagan and, in July 1983, was replaced by Robert McFarlane.

Bibliography

Hof, Frederic C. Galilee Divided: The Israel - Lebanon Frontier,1916 - 1984, foreword by Philip C. Habib. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1985.

Spiegel, Steven. The Other Arab - Israeli Conflict. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.

ZACHARY KARABELL

 
Wikipedia: Philip Habib

Philip Charles Habib (February 25, 1920May 25, 1992) was an American career diplomat known for work in Vietnam, South Korea and the Middle East. The New York Times in observing his passing described him as "the outstanding professional diplomat of his generation in the United States".

Philip Habib and his grand nephew Gregory Cohen in his offices at the State Department. 1976. Photo by Erwin Cohen.
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Philip Habib and his grand nephew Gregory Cohen in his offices at the State Department. 1976. Photo by Erwin Cohen.

Habib was born in Brooklyn and raised there in section of the borough known as Bensonhurst, by Lebanese Maronite Christian parents. He worked as a shipping clerk before starting his undergraduate study at the College of Forestry and Wildlife and Range Sciences at the University of Idaho. After graduating in 1942, he served in the Army until 1946 and attained the rank of captain. He continued his education in an agricultural economics Ph.D. program at University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1952. There he happened across a flyer advertising the State Department entrance exam, which he sat and passed.

Beginning in 1949, his foreign service career took him to Canada, New Zealand, South Korea (twice), and South Vietnam. He held the State Department position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 1967-1969 and was part of the Vietnamese peace talk delegation in 1968. Habib acquired increasingly important posts, serving as Ambassador to South Korea (1971-1974), Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (1974-1976), and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs (1976-1978), during which time he was the chief mediator for the US between Israel and Egypt in the Camp David Peace Accord.

Habib retired from the foreign service after suffering a second heart attack. In 1978 he accepted a teaching position (as "Diplomat-in-residence") at Stanford University but soon returned to public service in 1979, as a special advisor and, in 1981, as a special envoy sent to defuse the conflict in Lebanon by Ronald Reagan. Habib negotiated a peace that lasted long enough to avert disaster for the besieged city of Beirut. In 1982, for his efforts he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- the highest official honor given to an American citizen by the Government.

Early in 1986, Reagan sent Habib to the Philippines to convince President Ferdinand Marcos to step down. In March 1986, Reagan appointed Habib as a special envoy to Central America with the intention of resolving the conflict in Nicaragua. Five months later he quit the job.

In 1992, while on vacation in Puligny-Montrachet, France, Habib suffered a heart attack and died.

In 2002, John Boykin's biography of Habib, "Cursed is the Peacemaker" (: Applegate Press, Belmont, GA) was published, focusing largely upon Habib's mediation between Israel and Lebanon during their war in 1982.

In 2006, Habib was featured on a United States postage stamp, one of a block of four featuring prominent diplomats [1].

Warren Zevon wrote the song "The Envoy", from his 1982 album of the same name, in honor of Habib.

While he was the Ambassador to South Korea, Habib was the main impetus behind the building of a new Ambassador's residence, a noteworthy neo-classic Korean architectural design. The residence was later named Habib House in honor of his efforts.

References

  • Molotsky, Irvin. (May 28, 1981). "Man in the News; Tireless Trouble-Shooter for the U.S.". The New York Times, p. 3.
  • Manegold, Catherine S. (May 27, 1992). "Philip C. Habib, a Leading U.S. Diplomat, Dies at 72". The New York Times, p. 21.
  • "Habib Remembered As a Blunt Diplomat Who Defied Clichés". (June 11, 1992). New York Times, p. 22.
  • University of Idaho Alumni Hall of Fame - 1969 Philip C. Habib

 
 

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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Philip Habib" Read more

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