Fred Iklé

Who was Fred Iklé?

Dr. Fred Charles Iklé was a Swiss-born sociologist and defense expert who became a significant part of the US defense policy establishment. 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 he was appointed director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1973-1977, before becoming Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. 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 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 War in Afghanistan. He successfully proposed and promoted the idea of supplying the rebels with anti-aircraft Stinger missiles, overcoming CIA opposition.