Jacques Paul Klein
Jacques Paul Klein is a retired United States diplomat, who served as head of three United Nations peacekeeping missions: the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia from 17 January 1996 to 1 August 1997, the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 16 July 1999 to the 31 December 2002, and the United Nations Mission in Liberia from 17 July 2003 to 20 July 2005.
Background
Jacques Paul Klein was born on 9 January 1939 in Sélestat, Alsace, France, the son of Jean Paul Klein and Josephine Klein. In the Middle Ages the seat of the Klein family was located in Wuille in the Vosges Mountains. Barthel Klein and his descendants were Mayors, Municipal Magistrates and City Counselors in Ville. In 1695, after the Thirty Years' War, Jean Klein married Catherine Bleicher from nearly St. Hippolyte and after their marriage moved the family there, They became vintners after arriving in St. Hippolyte and have practiced viniculture since that time. After the death of Klein's father and the destruction of the family home and business at the end of World War II, his mother opted to move to the United States with her seven-year-old son, arriving on December 7, 1946. Prior to leaving France, Klein had begun his elementary school studies at College Koeberle in Selestat.In August, 1968, Klein married Dr. Margrete Siebert Klein. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, from Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, a Master of Science degree in Physics, and a Ph.D. in Science Education from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She pursued a professional career as a college instructor and subsequently served as a Staff Associate in the Division of Physics and as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia. They have two children, Christian and Maia, and four grandchildren, Nikolas, Sophia, Caroline and Courtenay.
Mr. Klein was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service of the Department of State. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in history from Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois and has done post-graduate work in International Politics at the Catholic University of America. in Washington, D.C. In recognition of his service to peace, he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws by Elmhurst College and the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa from Roosevelt University. In 1957 he was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and the Seal of the City of Osijek and in 1998 the Carter of Gratitude by the President of Croatia. In 2003 he was named an Honorary Citizen of the City of Vukovar. In recognition of his commitment to international understanding and reconciliation, he was presented the Marcel Rudloff Prize at the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for "service de la defense the l'esprit de tolerance." In 2011 he was awarded the Degree of Doctor Honori Causa by the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University and Certificate of Gratitude by the Associaton of Returnees of Croatia and the Distinguished Global Leadership Award by the Evandeoski Teoloski Fakultet in Osijek, Croatia, "for being a transformational leader who demonstrated clarity of vision, moral conviction and the political will while championing human rights and the development of democracy in Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Liberia" In 2013 he was made an Honorary Citizen of the City of Osijek and in 2019 was awarded the Gold medal of Honor of the l'Union Alsacienne; awarded the Foreign Service Cup by DACOR; and made a member of the Comite d'Honneur of the Academie d'Alsace des Sciences, Lettres et Arts.
Work history
Air Force
Major General Klein completed the extension programs of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Air War College, Air Command and Staff College, and Squadron Officer School. He completed, in residence, the National War College in 1980, the National Security Management Course of the National Defense University in 1988, and the Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, in 1989.General Klein was commissioned through Officer Training School, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, in August 1963, and was assigned to the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, as Deputy Director of Personnel, and subsequently served as Chief of the Quality and Career Control Branches. In 1965, General Klein volunteered for service in South Vietnam and was assigned to Nha Trang Air Base to help activate the 14th Air Commando Wing. During that assignment, he earned his officer non-rated aircrew member wings flying intelligence, strike and reconnaissance missions in 0-1 Es with the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron. While in Vietnam, he was selected for assignment to the 1005th Special Investigations Group. In 1966, he completed basic intelligence and specialized counterintelligence training in Washington, D.C. before being assigned as Deputy Chief of the Counterintelligence Division, Office of Special Investigations, District 2, in New York City.
In January 1968, upon release from active duty to resume graduate studies, General Klein accepted a reserve assignment with the Office of Special Investigations, District 24 in Chicago, Illinois. In 1969, he was asked to assume a civilian position as Chief of the Counterintelligence Division. This appointment necessitated his reassignment as an Intelligence Officer to the 1127th field Activities Group, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. From 1969 to 1974, General Klein served with Intelligence Reserve Detachments 8, 11, and 21 in Illinois and Virginia before being assigned to the newly activated 7602nd Air Intelligence group at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
In 1975, General Klein activated Intelligence Reserve Detachment 23 at Ramstein Air Base, Federal Republic of Germany, and served as Intelligence Director and Executive Officer before assuming command in 1977. Upon graduation from the National War College in 1980, he became Commander of Intelligence Reserve Detachment 19, Arlington Hall Station, Virginia, while concurrently serving as the first Air Reserve Attache to the Federal Republic of Germany and, subsequently, to France. In June 1982, he was assigned as Mobilization Assistant to the Chief, Policy and Management Division, Directorate of International Programs, Air Staff. He was recalled to the intelligence career field in May 1983 as Mobilization Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence at Air Force headquarters.
In March 1987, General Klein was reassigned as Mobilization Assistant to the Deputy Chief of Staff, Program and Resources. He returned to the intelligence career field in September 1989 to serve as Mobilization Assistant to the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence. In April 1990, he was selected to serve as Mobilization Assistant to the Commander of Air University. In January 1991, General Klein was recalled to active duty for a short period of time during the Gulf War and retired to civilian life at the end of the conflict. He retired from the Air Force in August 1998, with 35 years, 2 months and 28 days service.
Foreign service
Klein took the Department of State Foreign Service Examination in June 1969 and entered the Foreign Service in 1971.He served his initial tour of duty in the Operations Center of the Executive Secretariat, Office of the Secretary of State. He was subsequently posted abroad to serve as Consular Officer at the American Consulate General in Bremen, Federal Republic of Germany. In 1973, he was reassigned to the Department of State as a Political Officer in the Office of Southern European Affairs. He returned overseas in 1975 upon assumption of diplomatic relations with the German Democratic Republic, to serve as Consular Officer in the newly opened American Embassy in Berlin. In 1977, he was reassigned and served a follow-on tour as a Political Officer at the American Embassy in Bonn.
Klein was selected to attend the National War College in 1979. After graduation, he was assigned as a Management Analysis Officer on the Policy Planning Staff in the Office of the Director General of the Foreign Service. He was seconded to the United States Department of Defense in 1982 to serve as Senior Adviser for International Affairs to the Secretary of the Air Force, with the rank of Deputy Assistant Secretary. He then returned to the Department of State to become Director of the Office of Strategic Technology Matters in the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs. In 1989, he was again recalled to the Department of Defense to serve as Assistant Deputy Under-Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs.
In 1990, Klein returned to the Department of State to serve as Principal Adviser to the Director General of the Foreign Service, and Director of Personnel for Career Development, Training and Detail Assignments. He returned abroad in 1993 to serve as Political Adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of the United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany.
United Nations
In 1996, United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali selected him to serve as Transitional Administrator for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium, with the rank of Undersecretary General. As Chief of Mission, he had overall command and control responsibilities and day-to-day management authority of a multinational force of 5,000 military personnel, 350 international civilian police officers, 100 multi-national military observers, 300 international civil servants and a local national staff of 600. He administered a $370 million budget and, through skillful management, reduced actual expenditures by over $20 million per year. Klein forged a united and effective team including personnel from 28 different countries. They planned and executed the dangerous and complex demobilization of over 17,000 Serb troops, including several criminal paramilitary units, and successfully demilitarized the region, and seized the vital Djeletovci Oil Field controlled by Arkan's paramilitary thugs, known as the Scorpions and returned them to Croatian government control. His mission negotiated a comprehensive structure of minority rights and guarantees for the local population, held successful municipal elections for 150,000 voters and facilitated the return of over 100,000 displaced persons to the region. In conjunction with the International Criminal Court, they located, detained and arrested the first war criminal, under sealed indictment, in the former Yugoslavia. During the two-year U.N. mandate, Klein facilitated the return of the demilitarized region to Croatian national sovereignty. In 2011 he received the Certificate of Gratitude from the Association of Returnees of Croatia for his role in facilitating the return of over 200,00 Croatian returnees to their homes, leaving only some 400 who have yet to return.Klein's tenure at the United Nations was marred by a series of allegations, accusations and hear say that had no basis in fact; which was fueled by Liberia's three warring factions in an attempt to discredit him and the United Nations. The United Nations OIOS investigation was deemed inadequate and releasing the report ran counter to the United Nations mandate, "only to produce, maintain and disseminate investigative reports that had been created in accordance with the requirements of fairness and due process." The Headquarters Joint Appeals Board in
its review in JAB Case 2008-062, JAB Report N2070 reached the following conclusions and recommendations. "The Panel was deeply disturbed by the Appellant's treatment at the hands of OIOS and the Organization. The Panel deplored the fact, that it took some two years after the completion of the report for DPKO to inform Appellant of the outcome and secondly, that its communication was ambiguous. The Panel considered that the second report should not have been released before the investigation process had been properly concluded and a determination made one way or the other, that is of guilt or innocence, and then communicated to Appellant so he could reply. The Panel rejected Respondent's argument relating to the right of Member States to receive reports at their request as being immaterial in the circumstances since the report in question was not final. By permitting a draft Report to be released, it left a cloud of innuendo and suspicion surrounding Appellant who before he was left without standing vis-a-vis the Organization, had been a highly valued adviser to two Secretarys-General. After examining Appellant's pleas, the Panel concluded that were rather modest in view of the damage he suffered. In light of the above considerations, the Panel unanimously recommended that Appellant:
be issued a letter of apology from OIOS for having allowed Appellant's name to be tarnished and his reputation sullied by unproven accusations and;
be awarded compensatory damages in the amount of one year's net salary plus interest at the prevailing rate for the violations of his due process."
In a subsequent ruling the United Nations Dispute Tribunal in Case No. UNDT/NY/2009/119, Judgment No.UNDT/2011/169 noted, "The Tribunal is persuaded from the factual circumstances in this case and from the parties' submissions that the Applicant suffered non-pecuniary harm, including emotional distress and harm to reputation. The Tribunal notes, in this regard, the JAB Report, which referred to the Applicant's "shocked" reaction to the disclosures of the Executive Summary. Additionally, it is apparent to the Tribunal that any reasonable person would inevitably suffer serious anxiety and emotional distress if put through the same ordeal... the Respondent's failure to reasonably exercise the discretion to withhold or modify the procedurally flawed document resulted in "a serious personal and professional blight on the Applicant's character. In light of the aforesaid, and considering the publicity and continuous harm caused to the Applicant, the Tribunal is therefore satisfied that the Applicant's submissions regarding the negative effects of this proven breach are not merely speculative. Having given due and careful consideration to both parties' submissions and the record, the Tribunal finds that the Applicant should be compensated by an award of US60,000 for emotional distress and anxiety suffered by him as a result of the Respondent's actions, as well as for the damage caused his reputation.
Orders: The Second Report, the Executive Summary, and any other adverse material pertaining to the matters raised in the Second report shall be removed from the Applicant's personnel file and any working files maintained by organizational units of the Organization. The Tribunal found the Second report and the Executive Summary to be procedurally flawed and in breach of the Applicant's terms of appointment; The Tribunal found that the disclosure of the Executive Summary to Member States was improper."
Post-UN career
During the 2005–2006 academic year, Klein held the position of Visiting Lecturer in International Affairs and Schultz Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. He was responsible for the development and presentation of undergraduate and graduate courses that examine the history of conflict management and resolution. Topics included humanitarian crisis management, United Nations peacekeeping operations and American foreign policy objectives, the role of United Nations peacekeeping in the post Cold War era, the role of the Security Council in United Nations decision making processes, the changing face of peacekeeping and peace enforcement, and the role and interest of the United States in United Nations reform.Klein is a lecturer, writer and international consultant on foreign affairs, as well as an adjunct professor at the International University of Dubrovnik.