Collection consists largely of speeches, meeting transcripts, peace conference documents, news clippings about Saunders, photographs,
and approximately 150 pocket notebooks that he carried with him that include insights from conversations and other experiences
that were important to him.
There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Harold Saunders papers must be obtained
from Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Access Restrictions
There are no access restrictions.
Alternate Format Available
Digital versions are available from box 4, folders 1-23, and Box 5, folders 1-14, 16-19, 21-24, and 27-28.
Preferred Citation
Harold Saunders papers, C0259, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Harold Saunders in 2015.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Amanda Brent in 2017. EAD markup completed by Amanda Brent in 2017.
Harold Henry "Hal" Saunders, born in Philadelphia, PA, was founder and Chairman of the International Institute for Sustained
Dialogue (IISD) and Director of International Affairs at the Kettering Foundation. For twenty years he worked at the National
Security Council (NSC) Staff in the White House (1961 - 1974) and the State Department (1974 - 1981), serving as the Assistant
Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research (1975 - 1978) and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs (1978
- 1981.) Saunders was at the center of U.S. policy making in the Middle East and South Asia, and played major roles in the
Camp David Accords and the Iran Hostage Crisis. After leaving his government career in 1981, he developed and practiced the
process of Sustained Dialogue, a "public peace process" to transform racial and ethnic conflicts. Saunders was a graduate
of both Princeton and Yale Universities, and was a veteran of the United States Air Force. Saunders passed away in 2016.
The Harold Saunders papers consists largely of speeches, meeting transcripts, news clippings, photographs, and approximately
150 pocket notebooks that he carried with him that include insights from conversations and other experiences that were important
to him. The most unique document is a declassified copy of the key pages of a memo he co-authored with his close colleague
Ambassador Alfred LeRoy "Roy" Atherton for Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to send to President Jimmy Carter to begin his preparatory
reading for the summit with Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem being held at Camp David in September
1978.
The most revealing sections are those focused on how Carter might have proceeded in bringing Sadat and begin the human dialogue
planned for Camp David. There are also professional files including speeches and congressional testimony from 1976 to 1983,
materials on the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979, chapters for an unpublished book on presidential decision-making toward the
Middle East, and speeches from 1974-1983. The collection also includes substantial documentation of international meetings,
such as 37 analytical memos written after each meeting of the Inter-Tajik Dialogue (1993-2005) which was conducted by three
Russian and three American members of the Dartmouth Conference Task Force on Regional Conflicts. Documentation on other meetings
include records of twelve meetings over five years of a sustained dialogue involving participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan,
and Nagorno-Karabakh. This includes records of what was called the Arab-American-European Dialogue, which included five senior
Americans government officials, five senior European government officials, and a dozen political reformers from the Arab Islamic
heartland (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, and Egypt). The question of Western democracy and Islam's compatibility
was the main focus during this dialogue. Also included are records of a dialogue among Iraqis across the political spectrum
on national reconciliation, as well as near verbatim transcripts of meetings of the Dartmouth Conference Regional Conflicts
Task Force and - its successor since 2008 - the Task Force on the Russian-U.S. Relationship which began in 1982.
Series 1: Government Career (1930s - 1985) documents Saunders' government career during the 1970s and 1980s, which includes
speeches, memoranda, photos, newspaper clippings, and other documents from his tenure on the National Security Council and
as a high-ranking official in the White House during multiple presidential administrations. Topics range from the Camp David
Accords, the Iran Hostage Crisis, to Saunders thoughts, opinions, experiences, and actions as an American diplomat.
Series 2: Dartmouth Conference, Peace Dialogues, and Post-Government Career (1970s - 2014) documents Saunders involvement
in numerous peace dialogues and experiences after his government career, and is divided into four subseries. Subseries 2.1:
Dartmouth Conference, which includes multiple documents on the annual peace dialogue conference. Subseries 2.2: Peace Dialogues
- Tajikistan, which includes multiple documents on Saunders involvement in the Inter-Tajik Dialogues. Subseries 2.3: Peace
Dialogues - Other, which includes documents on Saunders involvement in other peace dialogues, most notably on the Middle East.
Subseries 2.4: Post-Government Career Work, includes documents and reflections from Saunders on his work after his career
in government.
Series 3: Notebooks, Media, and Miscellaneous (1970s - 2000) includes multiple notebooks and recordings on cassette tape on
experiences during and after his career in government. Most notable are his plethora of notebooks created during and after
both the Camp David Accords and the Iran Hostage Crisis.
Establishing a Trilateral US-European - Arab Sustained Dialogue for the Purpose of Exploring the Elements of a New Relationship
Between the West and the Arab World by Rand Slim,
June 2005
Box: 24
Folder: 16
Nagorno - Karabakh: Viewing the Conflict from the Ground,
September 14, 2005
Box: 24
Folder: 17
Nagorno - Karabakh: A Plan for Peace,
October 11, 2005
Box: 24
Folder: 18
"Out of bloodiness, a certain hope" - Article on Iraq from The Economist,
International Institute for Sustained Dialogue Memorandum of Conversation,
January 4, 2006
Box: 25
Folder: 6
Launching a Dialogue for National Reconciliation in Iraq by Basil Eastwood,
November 2006 - 2008
Box: 25
Folder: 7
Sunni and Shia Documents ,
circa 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 8
"Establishing a trilateral US-European-Arab sustained dialogue for the purpose of exploring the elements of a new relationship
between the West and Arab world" - Concept Paper by Rand M. Slim, PhD,
circa 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 9
Email Correspondence on Iraq,
2007
Box: 25
Folder: 10
Conflict Forum on Islam Documents,
2007
Box: 25
Folder: 11
Northern Ireland Documents,
2007
Box: 25
Folder: 12
Iraq Sustained Dialogue Initiative Documents,
2007
Box: 25
Folder: 13
Iraq Sustained Dialogue Initiative Documents,
2007
Box: 25
Folder: 14
Email Correspondence on Iraq,
2007
Box: 25
Folder: 15
Arab-American-European Dialogue Documents and "Visit to Egypt" CD-ROM,
2007
Box: 25
Folder: 16
United States Institute of Peace - Special Report - "Iraq's New Political Map",
January 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 17
An Unofficial Sustained Dialogue Supporting Official Reconciliation Efforts in Iraq,
January 1, 2007 - December 31, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 18
Trip Report - Meetings in Beirut - February 23 - March 2, 2007,
March 13, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 19
Email Correspondence on Beirut ,
March 15, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 20
The Marmara Declaration - Iraq and Its Neighbors Dialogue,
March 23, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 21
"The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood" by Robert S. Leiken and Steven Brooke,
March, April 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 22
Iraq Sustained Dialogue - An Unofficial Dialogue Supporting Reconciliation in Iraq - Convened by IPALMO and IISD by Basil
Eastwood,
April 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 23
Iraq Sustained Dialogue Initiative,
April 21 - 23, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 24
The Iraq Sustained Dialogue - Beirut, Lebanon Document,
April 21 - 23, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 25
Iraq Sustained Dialogue Paper,
April 21 - 23, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 26
Email Correspondence - "Debriefing on Beirut" and List of Participants in IISD/IPALMO Iraq Initiative Beirut Meeting,
April 27, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 27
Notes from My Meeting with Mr. Al Khaf ,
September 18, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 28
Email Correspondence - "Draft list and conference call",
Email Correspondence - "Calls on Syrian Officials",
November 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 32
Email Correspondence - "Follow-up Thought",
November 30, 2007
Box: 25
Folder: 33
Iraq Sustained Dialogue Documents ,
2008
Box: 25
Folder: 34
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Nagorno - Karabakh,
2012
Box: 25
Folder: 35
Documents on Award Given to George Clooney for His Efforts to Stop Genocide in Sudan,
2013
Box: 25
Folder: 36
Saunders' Notes Arab-American-European Dialogue,
circa 2014
Box: 25
Folder: 37
Transforming Relationships...Sustained Dialogue Institute - Designing Change - Research 2014 - A Strategy for Transformational
Change,
2014
Subseries 2.4: Post-Government Career Work, 1982-2014
Box: 26
Folder: 1
Post-1981 Papers, Presentations, Articles, Chapters of Harold H. Saunders - A personal archive of writing and speaking in
the years after his government service - Volume 1 - Part 1,
1982 - 1983
Box: 26
Folder: 2
Post-1981 Papers, Presentations, Articles, Chapters of Harold H. Saunders - A personal archive of writing and speaking in
the years after his government service - Volume 1 - Part 2,
1983 - 1984
Box: 26
Folder: 3
Post-1981 Papers, Presentations, Articles, Chapters of Harold H. Saunders - A personal archive of writing and speaking in
the years after his government service - Volume 1 - Part 3,
1984 - 1987
Box: 26
Folder: 4
Post-1981 Papers, Presentations, Articles, Chapters of Harold H. Saunders - A personal archive of writing and speaking in
the years after his government service - Volume 1 - Part 4,
1987 - 1990
Box: 26
Folder: 5
Post-1981 Papers, Presentations, Articles, Chapters of Harold H. Saunders - A personal archive of writing and speaking in
the years after his government service - Volume 2 - Part 1,
1990 - 1991
Box: 26
Folder: 6
Post-1981 Papers, Presentations, Articles, Chapters of Harold H. Saunders - A personal archive of writing and speaking in
the years after his government service - Volume 2 - Part 1,
1992 - 1995
Box: 26
Folder: 7
Post-1981 Papers, Presentations, Articles, Chapters of Harold H. Saunders - A personal archive of writing and speaking in
the years after his government service - Volume 2 - Part 2,
1995 -1996
Box: 27
Folder: 1
Post-1981 Papers, Presentations, Articles, Chapters of Harold H. Saunders - A personal archive of writing and speaking in
the years after his government service - Volume 2 - Part 3,
1997 - 2000
Box: 27
Folder: 2
Post-1981 Papers, Presentations, Articles, Chapters of Harold H. Saunders - A personal archive of writing and speaking in
the years after his government service - Volume 2 - Part 4,
2000 - 2008
Box: 27
Folder: 3
Presidents' Perspectives on U.S. Interests in the Middle East by Saunders,
October 1983
Box: 27
Folder: 4
Chapter One and Chapter Two of Discussion Draft,
August 1984
Box: 27
Folder: 5
Chapter One and Chapter Two of Discussion Draft,
August 1984
Box: 27
Folder: 6
Section One - Presidents and Policy, Discussion Drafts by Saunders,
August 1984
Box: 27
Folder: 7
Working Draft of "When Walls Come Down" - Part 1,
circa 1986
Box: 28
Folder: 8
Working Draft of "When Walls Come Down" - Part 2,
circa 1986
Box: 28
Folder: 1
Working Draft of "When Walls Come Down" - Part 3,
circa 1986
Box: 28
Folder: 2
Preface Material for Manuscript,
circa 1986
Box: 28
Folder: 3
Chapter 1 - The Real Middle East Problem,
circa 1986
Box: 28
Folder: 4
Unfinished Manuscript - "New Directions in Foreign Relations - The United States in the Changing Middle East",
1986
Box: 28
Folder: 5
Foreign Policy Discussion Document and Notes,
1986
Box: 28
Folder: 6
Doc 1 Master,
September 29, 1986
Box: 28
Folder: 7
Doc 2 Master,
September 29, 1986
Box: 28
Folder: 8
Doc 4 Master,
September 29, 1986
Box: 28
Folder: 9
Manuscript Pages - Part 1,
1987
Box: 28
Folder: 10
Manuscript Pages - Part 2,
1987
Box: 28
Folder: 11
The Concept of Relationship by Saunders,
April 14, 1989
Box: 29
Folder: 1
Manuscript Pages,
circa 1990
Box: 29
Folder: 2
The Politics of International Relationships by Saunders,
circa 1990
Box: 29
Folder: 3
Officials and Citizens in International Relationships - The Dartmouth Conference by Saunders,
circa 1990
Box: 29
Folder: 4
Annotated Manuscript Pages,
circa 1990
Box: 29
Folder: 5
Sinai II: The Politics of International Mediation by Cecilia Albin,
May 24, 1990
Box: 29
Folder: 6
"Thinking in Stages" Manuscript - Part 1,
June 1991
Box: 29
Folder: 7
"Thinking in Stages" Manuscript - Part 2,
June 1991
Box: 30
Folder: 1
Assistant Secretary Dr. Harold Saunders - Oral History Transcript of the Foreign Affairs Oral History Program (Georgetown
University) Interviewed 1993 - 94,
1993 - 1994
Box: 30
Folder: 2
Note from Saunders on Later Career,
circa 2014
Series 3: Notebooks, Media, and Miscellaneous (Boxes 30 - 40),
1970s-2000
This series includes multiple notebooks and recordings on cassette tape on experiences during and after Saunders' career in
government.
Box: 30
Folder: 3
Four Perspectives on Ethics and Foreign Policy and Their Implications for Some Central Issues of Current U.S. Policy by Kenneth
W. Thompson,
July 1977
Box: 30
Folder: 4
Moral Reasoning and Foreign Policy, with Special Emphasis on Human Rights,
August 29, 19773
Box: 30
Folder: 5
United States/Middle East Diplomatic Relations 1784 - 1978 - An Annotated Bibliography by Thomas A. Bryson,
1979
Box: 30
Folder: 6
Foreign Policy and Morality - Framework for a Moral Audit,
1979
Box: 30
Folder: 7
Foreign Policy and Ethics Documents,
circa 1980
Box: 30
Folder: 8
The Politics of International Relationships by Saunders,
circa 1980
Box: 30
Folder: 9
Documents on Foreign Policy,
circa 1980
Box: 30
Folder: 10
Documents on Foreign Policy Ethics and Morals,
1985 - 1987
Box: 30
Folder: 11
Documents on Nixon's Policies,
1987
Box: 30
Folder: 12
Richard Nixon's Reactive Approach to Middle East Policy by Steven B. Hedlund (Saunders' intern),
March 1, 1987
Box: 30
Folder: 13
Intervention: Normative Foundations, Political Meaning and Policy Choices by J. Bryan Hehir,
October 23, 1987
Box: 31
Folder: 1
Nuclear Ethics, Joseph S. Nye, Jr.,
1988
Box: 31
Folder: 2
Documents on Jewish-Arab Relationship,
1988
Box: 31
Folder: 3
"An Ethical Basis for a Theory of International Relationship",
1988
Box: 31
Folder: 4
Ethics and International Relations, ,
1988
Box: 31
Folder: 5
Memorandum on Ethics of Negotiation,
April 14, 1988
Box: 31
Folder: 6
Documents on Political Settlement in Persian Gulf,
1991
Box: 31
Folder: 7
Documents on Carter Administration and Camp David Accords Conference ,
1991
Box: 31
Folder: 8
Beyond Government - Extending the Public Policy Debate in Emerging Democracies,
1995
Box: 31
Folder: 9
Toni Morrison Princeton Convocation Address from Princeton Alumni Weekly,