Aaron (Aharon) S. Klieman (July 27, 1939 – June 17, 2021) was an American-born Israeli historian of international relations who developed the field of international affairs in Israel and abroad. Klieman researched a wide variety of fields in political science including history, arms sales, and geopolitics.[1][2][3][4] He was the Dr. Nahum Goldmann Chair in Diplomacy and lecturer on international relations in the Department of Political Science at Tel-Aviv University, and was the founding director of the Abba Eban Graduate Program in Diplomatic Studies. A native of Chicago, Illinois, his PhD is from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, with an M.A. from the School of International Affairs at Columbia University in Middle Eastern studies.
Klieman wrote and edited 24 books, monographs, and documentary collections in English and Hebrew, and has authored over 30 book chapters in addition to journal articles. He was also a senior editor of the Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs.[5]
In 1969 Klieman accepted an offer from Tel Aviv University to join as a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, eventually becoming the head of the department. He taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses for more than 50 years. Klieman initiated the "Round Table - Ambassadors Forum",[6] which holds periodic meetings between ambassadors to Israel and students in the department while creating a bridge between them and exposing students to diplomats from Israel and the world. In addition, he established the "International Forum" - an apolitical forum open to students, faculty, and the general public to address core issues in Israeli relations and the international arena. In 2001, Klieman founded and headed the "Abba Eben Program of Graduate Studies in Diplomacy."[6]
Klieman was appointed the Nahum Goldmann Chair in Diplomacy Studies at Tel Aviv University between the years 1997-2009.[7][8] He was a research fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center and at the JCSS – Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies (now INSS) at Tel Aviv University. He was the first professor from the State of Israel in the Department of Government at Georgetown University[9] in Washington D.C., (1979-1980; 1984-1985), and continued teaching summer courses there for 30 years. In addition, he was a guest lecturer at the Universities of Chicago (1994-1995), Denver (1997), Michigan (Ann Arbor) (2000-2001), California (UCLA) (2005-2006), Brown (2008) and Trinity College (Ireland) (2010).
He was also a supporter of and active in "Track II diplomacy,"[10] informal meetings between Israeli representatives and representatives from Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority through an academic channel. Negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians also concerned him.
Upon his retirement in 2007, Klieman established the Department of Politics and Government at Ashkelon Academic College[7] bringing high-level academics to the periphery in Israel.