Fred Iklé
Fred Iklé | |
|---|---|
Fred Iklé in 1983 | |
| Under Secretary of Defense for Policy | |
| In office April 2, 1981 – February 19, 1988 | |
| President | Ronald Reagan |
| Preceded by | Robert Komer |
| Succeeded by | Paul Wolfowitz |
| Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency | |
| In office 1973–1977 | |
| President | Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | Gerard C. Smith |
| Succeeded by | Paul Warnke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Fritz Karl Iklé August 21, 1924 Samedan, Switzerland |
| Died | November 10, 2011 (aged 87) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S. |
| Relations | Elisabeth Kopp (second cousin) |
| Alma mater | University of Zurich (BA) University of Chicago (MA, PhD) |
Fred Charles Iklé (né Fritz Karl Iklé; August 21, 1924 – November 10, 2011) was a Swiss-American sociologist and defense expert. Iklé's expertise was in defense and foreign policy, nuclear strategy, and the role of technology in the emerging international order. After a career in academia (including a professorship at MIT) he was appointed director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1973–1977, before becoming Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (1981 to 1988). He was later a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Department of Defense's Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, a Distinguished Scholar with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and a Director of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Iklé is credited with a key role in increasing U.S. aid to anti-Soviet rebels in the Soviet–Afghan War. He successfully proposed and promoted the idea of supplying the rebels with anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, overcoming CIA opposition.
Iklé was a second cousin of Elisabeth Kopp, the first woman in the Swiss Federal Council, elected in 1984.