Lawrence Butler

Lawrence Butler was the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia from 2002-2005.

Life and career

Butler received his B.A. from Bowdoin College and did graduate work at the University of Michigan and Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. After having been a member of the Foreign Service since 1976, he became a member of the US Senior Foreign Service in 1997. He served as Director for European Affairs on the National Security Council staff at the White House from 1997 to 1999. When in that position, he was directly responsible for Presidential involvement in achieving the Belfast "Good Friday" agreement in the Northern Ireland peace process. He also covered the European Union, thus preparing the then twice-yearly U.S.-EU Summits and handling relations with the Nordic states, UK, Ireland and Germany. While in Belgrade, he also helped implement the Dayton Accord and open the first U.S. Office in Kosovo.

As ambassador in Skopje, Butler worked with the European Union Special Representative, as well as with the OSCE, NATO and other international organization representatives, to implement the 2001 Ohrid Framework Agreement that ended Macedonia's insurgency. As part of that, he focused on supporting the government on efforts to become a future member of NATO and the European Union. He was selected by Lord Ashdown to serve as Principal High Deputy Representative at the Office of High Representative and EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, serving in Sarajevo from March 2005 to January 2007. During this period, he was seconded from the U.S. State Department. He returned to the State Department in January 2007 to be the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, as part of the New Way Forward policy implementation team that successfully diminished violence and improved governance in Iraq.

External links

*http://www.ohr.int/ohr-info/hrs-dhrs/default.asp?content_id=34382
*http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/12236.htm
*http://macedonia.usembassy.gov/a1_tv_interview.html
*http://macedonia.usembassy.gov/butlers_interview_sept_15th.html