Meghan Lynch O’Sullivan, professor of the practice of international affairs at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard, has a career resume that’s extremely vast. O’Sullivan is a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and deputy national security advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan (2004-07) who helped negotiate the bilateral security agreement between Iraq and the U.S. in the fall of 2008.

She is also a former member of the Policy Planning Department at the State Department, where she was the senior advisor to Richard Haass, former U.S. special envoy to the Irish peace process.

O’Sullivan, a native of Lexington, Massachusetts, has Cork roots through her grandparents, who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s. “Growing up in the O’Sullivan household, I was often reminded that many of the institutions upon which our country is based were built and then led by Irish immigrants and their descendants,” says O’Sullivan.

She is especially proud the example that peace in the North can provide to the world’s many trouble spots. “I look at the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain with admiration, as examples of the ability of determined people to overcome a past of conflict and violence and build foundations for the future,” she says. 

When working with the governments of Iran and Afghanistan, O’Sullivan adds, “I often brought attention to Ireland as an example of how governments and people can turn from bitter animosities to more hopeful futures.”

 

 

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