Kozak is a civil service employee of the U.S. State Department and charter member of the Senior Executive Service.[5] He has been described as a problem solver with practical solutions, who is "not prone to ideological diatribes."[7] He also been called "an outgoing, let's roll-up-our-sleeves kind of guy with a square boxer's body and face"[8] and "pugnacious."[9]
In the 1980s, Kozak was heavily involved in Cuba issues at the State Department, in its American Republic Affairs unit.
In April 1980, as the State Department determined its policies toward the Mariel boatlift of Cuban refugees to the United States, and formulated its statements on possible prosecution of Cuban Americans and hired ships bringing family members from Cuba to the United States, Kozak wrote a memo outlining various options for dealing with migration of Cuban refugees.[11] The memo included points that could be used to justify a decision to prohibit entry.[11] Kozak noted that prosecutions for bringing Cubans to the United States in the past were rare, and that unless the government were prepared to demonstrate its willingness to do so, Cuban Americans would assume there was no serious risk in participating in the boatlift.[11]
In 1980 and 1981, Kozak was part of a State Department team meeting with Cuban officials over migration and other issues.[7]
Between 1982 and 1988, Kozak became a principal deputy assistant secretary of state level official in the Office of the Legal Advisor.[5]
While working as principal deputy legal advisor, Kozak originated an idea to settle a dispute between the U.S. government and the Chilean government over the killing of a former Chilean diplomat in exile in the United States, Orlando Letelier, and his American assistant Ronni Moffit in a 1976 car bombing near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.[12] As Chile was unwilling to submit to a determination by a U.S. tribunal, Kozak proposed invoking the arbitration clause of the 1914 Chile-United States peace treaty, and Chile agreed.[12][13]
In 1988, Kozak was a special presidential envoy who "achieved prominence ... when he led an unsuccessful effort to persuade then-Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega to agree to a democratic transfer of power" prior to the U.S. military deposing Noriega in December 1989.[6][10]
In early 1988, Kozak had been sent to Panama repeatedly to try to negotiate on behalf of the U.S. government directly with Panamanian PresidentManuel Noriega, attempting to settle on terms under which Noreiga would step down.[15][16] Kozak argued for a diplomatic arrangement under which indictment against Noriega would be quashed, sanctions would be lifted, and Noriega would step down and leave the country by August 1988.[15]
In March 1989, as acting Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, Kozak advocated before Congress for funding for diplomatic efforts in Latin America.[17] He also helped Secretary of StateJames Baker implement a bipartisan agreement on Central America designed to help end the conflict in Nicaragua.[10][5]
In 1989, as principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Inter-American Affairs, working with Bernard Aronson, Kozak argued before a House hearing that relations with Cuba should not improve until the Castro regime made concessions to the United States on a variety of concerns.[15]
The next year, Kozak was instrumental in promoting ICITAP as the appropriate organization to train the Panamanian Defense Forces for civil law enforcement work after the overthrow of Manuel Noriega, with mixed results.[18]
U.S. ambassador to El Salvador nomination
In April 1991, Kozak was nominated to be U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador.[6] His appointment, and that of Joseph Sullivan to be ambassador to Nicaragua, were blocked by Republican Senator Jesse Helms and Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere subcommittee.[19][8] Their staffs had disapproved of the way in which the State Department had notified the committee of a particular programs, and held Sullivan and Kozak responsible as deputy assistant secretaries at the time.[19] They also disliked the way in which Kozak had helped resolve the Contra situation in Nicaragua.[8]
In September 1994, Kozak accompanied General Colin Powell on a flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, less than 36 hours before the planned landing of American troops there, to convince the leader of the ruling military junta that had taken control, Raoul Cedras, to leave power.[21]
U.S. ambassador to Belarus
On April 6, 2000, President Bill Clinton announced his intention to nominate Kozak to be U.S. Ambassador to Belarus.[22] President Alexander Lukashenko made Kozak wait several months before arranging for Kozak to present his credentials for official recognition as ambassador.[23]
In 2001, Kozak and Hans Georg Vik, the head of OSCE mission in Minsk, pushed for political opposition parties in Belarus to unite around a single leader, Uladzimir Hancharyk, the leader of the Trade Union Federation.[24] Hancharyk did not gain widespread popular support, and was seen as a "remnant of the old Soviet days of privilege and Party control".[24] Combined with ballot stuffing for the incumbent president, economic priming, and a crackdown on election observers, NGOs, and political activists, the central election commission controlled by President Lukashenko declared him the winner with 75.6 percent of the vote, a result contested as false and fraudulent by international bodies and other countries.[24][25]
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