Guéhenno Will Leave Position as Syria Envoy

SIPA professor Jean-Marie Guéhenno, who has been working since March to address the crisis in Syria, will soon leave his position as deputy to international envoy Kofi Annan.

At the request of the new French president Francois Hollande, Guéhenno, a French national, will chair a committee charged with writing a white paper on the future of French defense and security. Because the part-time position is related to a UN member state, it is incompatible with the status of an international civil servant, Guéhenno said. He will end his service as deputy joint special envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on Syria by August 1.

The change will also allow Guéhenno, who is the Arnold Saltzman Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs and director of the Center for International Conflict Resolution, to return to SIPA. After completing his current leave of absence, he will teach Peace Operations in Fragile States as scheduled this fall.


“The last few months have been fascinating, although sometimes frustrating,” Guéhenno says. “The Syrian tragedy continues, and the pace of diplomacy has not caught up with the pace of killings. The conflict is still worsening, and we may be many months away from genuine political engagement.


“I am honored by the request of President Hollande, and I am pleased, as a professor of professional practice, to take up this new responsibility while resuming my teaching at SIPA,” he adds. “I plan to come back to New York in August, and — while I will regularly go to Paris during the fall for meetings — I look forward to being back at SIPA with my students.”