Paula Dobriansky

Paula J. Dobriansky (born September 14, 1955) is a neo-conservative politician, pundit, and author.

Parents and Education

She was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the daughter of Ukrainian-American anti-communist activist Lev Dobriansky, the initiator of Captive Nations Week [Lev Dobriansky died on January 30, 2008, at the age of 89. [http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080209/EDITORIAL/396090091 "Washington Times" editorial, February 9, 2008 (accessed 11 February 2008)] ] and Julia Kusy Dobriansky, his wife [ [http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080205/METRO01/526216205/1004 "Washington Times" obituary of Lev Dobriansky, 5 February 2008 (accessed 11 February 2008).] ] .

She is a graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and of Harvard University. Her Ph.D. thesis was entitled "The military determinants of Soviet foreign policy, 1945-1988" and was accepted in 1991.

Current role

She currently is the Under-Secretary of State for Democracy & Global Affairs, a position to which she was appointed 1 May 2001 by US President George W. Bush. She is also a member of the Trilateral Commission. On February 15, 2007 Dobriansky became the Special Envoy on Northern Ireland, taking over for Mitchell Reiss who held that position for three years. [ [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/79217.htm Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky Designated Special Envoy on Northern Ireland ] ] .

Dobriansky has acted as a spokesperson for the United States on the issue of climate change and global warming, representing the United States at the 2006 United Nations climate change conference in Kenya as well as the 2007 talks in Bali. She has been a stalwart defender of the Bush Administration's refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, and has assisted the administration in blocking international agreements that would cap carbon dioxide emissions. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/science/18warming.html?ex=1321506000&en=5c1960f97fbd35c3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Big Conference on Warming Ends, Achieving Modest Results - New York Times ] ] Dobriansky has advocated voluntary reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, based on partnerships between developing and wealthy nations and has been opposed to caps that would require reductions based on specific timetables.

According to her official Department of State biography, she was "unanimously confirmed" by the Senate. Dobriansky's responsibilities include "a broad range of foreign policy issues, including democracy, human rights, labor, counter-narcotics and law enforcement, refugee and humanitarian relief matters and environmental/scientific issues. [ [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/2969.htm U.S. State Department Biography of Paula J. Dobriansky - released 11 December 2007 (accessed 11 February 2008)] ]

Previous roles

Dobriansky has served as Senior Vice President and Director of the Washington Office of the Council on Foreign Relations, including operations relating to all groups and meetings. She has been designated the Special Coordinator for Tibet.

She is a member of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and was one of the signatories to the January 26 1998, [http://www.theindyvoice.com/pnac/ PNAC Letter] sent to US President Bill Clinton, in which a group of conservatives advocated a US military attack on Iraq.

Dobriansky served as Senior International Affairs and Trade Advisor at the law firm of Hunton & Williams and as Co-Chair of the International TV Council at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Dobriansky has held other government positions including the Associate Director for Policy and Programs at the United States Information Agency (1990–1993), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs (1987–1990); Deputy Head of the U.S. Delegation to the 1990 Copenhagen Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe CSCE; Advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the 1985 UN Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi, Kenya; and Director of European and Soviet Affairs at the United States National Security Council (1983-1984). She also was a coordinator of Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign.

Dobriansky has served on the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, National Endowment for Democracy, Freedom House, American Council of Young Political Leaders, the American Bar Association Central, East European Law Initiative, and the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy.

She previously hosted Freedom's Challenge, and co-hosted Worldwise, and has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN Headline News, CNN, Fox Morning News, John McLaughlin's One-on-One, The McLaughlin Group, C-SPAN, MSNBC, PBS, National Public Radio, and has testified before the Senate Foreign Relations and House International Relations Committees. She is also on the advisory board of the Independent Women's Forum.

Bali conference

In December, 2007 at the Bali summit on climate change she was booed off stage when developing nations sought to strengthen requirements for richer nations to help poorer with technology to limit emissions and adapt to climate change's impacts.

As head of the U.S. delegation, Undersecretary of State Paula J. Dobriansky objected, and was met with a chorus of long and loud booing, almost unprecedented at a diplomatic summit of this kind.

Delegate after delegate took aim at the United States recalcitrant attitude. South Africa proclaimed Dobriansky's intervention was "most unwelcome and without any basis." Meanwhile Uganda said "We would like to beg them" to relent.

Then Kevin Conrad, the delegate from Papua New Guinea, addressed the US delegate directly. "We seek your leadership," he said "But if for some reason you are not willing to lead, leave it to the rest of us. Please get out of the way." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/science/earth/22conv.html?ref=science Bali Climate Talks - Kevin Conrad - Papua New Guinea - New York Times January 22, 2008] ] Following these remarks, Dobriansky declared that the U.S. would agree to the consensus and be involved in the climate treaty.

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