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Bill Ott
October 13, 2025
Bill and I shared a first name as elected members of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee. He was a man of strong principles and unafraid to speak the truth. I didn't know his background until now, but it is easy to see why he was so effecftive in his career and life. God bless Bill and his family.
Chris Honeyman
September 14, 2025
Bill was an extraordinary thinker and collaborator, right to the end; I didn't even meet him till he was past "normal" retirement age, and yet for another 20 years he contributed to a succession of projects I was involved with. It was a privilege to work with him.
Melverlynn Hull
September 6, 2025
We were neighbors to the Zartman family for 47 years. Incredibly sorry to learn of Dr Zartman 's passing.
Amine Ghoulidi
August 13, 2025
Professor Zartman was an extraordinary mentor whose generosity of spirit touched countless lives. From our first meeting in his office at SAIS in 2007, he embodied everything one hopes to find in a mentor: generous with his time, thoughtful in his advice, and genuinely invested in the growth of anyone who sought his counsel.
Over the years, whether during countless conversations in his Hopkins office or over coffee at international conferences, he demonstrated a remarkable combination of intellectual rigor and personal warmth. He was that increasingly rare figure in academia: someone who was not only brilliant but also faithful, consistent, reliable, and truly accessible to anyone seeking guidance.
His legacy lives on in the minds he shaped and the lives he touched. The African studies and negotiations community has lost a giant, but those of us privileged to know him carry forward his spirit of relentless intellectual curiosity and passion for ideas.
My deepest condolences to his family and to all who were fortunate enough to learn from this truly remarkable man.
He will be missed.
Ariel Chiang
August 5, 2025
Professor Zartman, thank you for your teaching. Your contribution to the fields of peace making and conflict management will not be forgotten.
Azzedine Layachi
August 2, 2025
This is indeed a sad loss of a great man, a wonderful person, a teacher, a mentor, and a peacemaker. I had him as a teacher in my first semester in a US university (NYU). His negotiations and diplomacy course (what else?!), though thick with theory and technicalities, was one of the best course I ever took. Bill served also as my dissertation mentor. The research inspiration came during a Christmas morning meeting at his house in the mid-1980s; the topic included negotiations, of course! Very generous with his time, Bill was an effective and inspiring mentor. Just like with many of his former students, he later became a great colleague, a friend, an inspiration. He will be dearly missed but will always be present in many hearts and minds due to the tremendous impact he had on people, and to the large number of works he left us on many topics, especially those on how to understand and help resolve disputes. Just like Hans Morgenthau's realism, Bill's approach seems guided by his view of human nature which he saw as a fundamental factor in deciding to negotiate or not and in how people actually negotiate. Bill's work on the Maghreb was also an important contribution. His 1982 edited book "Political Elites in Arab North Africa" remains a valid reference today on the dynamics of power in the Maghrib.
Daniele and Alex, please accept my most profound condolences. May God give you the strength needed to deal with this loss.
Usmaan Ahmad
August 2, 2025
In Memory of I. William (Bill) Zartman (1932-2025)
[THE POSSIBLE -> ]
by Usmaan Ahmad
Certain theories not only help us become more effective negotiators, they guard against hubris, no matter how well-intentioned our objectives, teaching us to work with reality rather than against it. They reveal that progress depends not on force of will but on the art of timing and strategy - recognizing when openings for peace exist and what's attainable in a given moment and how to expand what's possible over time.
Professor Bill Zartman provided exactly that. He taught us that conflicts have their own timing-moments when the pain of continuing finally exceeds the fear of negotiating. His Ripeness Theory revealed that even the most intractable conflicts have windows of possibility, requiring both the 'push' of a Mutually Hurting Stalemate and the 'pull' of a perceived Way Out-conditions that could transform into Mutually Enticing Opportunities. [I have shared some links to some of his writings in the comments]
Professor Zartman wasn't just a theorist observing from academia. He bridged the worlds of rigorous scholarship and practical peacemaking, from drafting peace plans for Colombia to advising on Congo, from SAIS classrooms to the highest levels of international diplomacy. He showed us that practical paths to peace could be developed and barriers to negotiation could be diagnosed through rigorous analysis.
I had the profound privilege of working directly with Professor Zartman as the youngest member of an expert negotiation team convened by President Carter at the Carter Center. In applying his framework to an escalating conflict situation with nuclear dimensions, our team grappled with what Bill identified as a situation with some elements of a "4-S stalemate" - stable, soft, self-serving, and sadly sustainable - where parties found the status quo more bearable than the risks of negotiation. Our work focused on identifying what 'pull factors' might transform such entrenched positions into opportunities for de-escalation, confidence-building and dialogue.
Despite being the architect of the theory we were applying, Bill approached our analysis with a beginner's mind - genuinely curious about this conflict's unique dynamics, listening and learning alongside us. He never rigidly imposed his concepts but offered them as tools to stress-test what was possible before designing interventions. In those intense deliberations, I witnessed him transform theoretical frameworks into practical pathways with intellectual precision and deep humanity.
Over the years, I have found Ripeness Theory to be an invaluable diagnostic tool for understanding conflict and developing effective strategies for peace. When situations are most stuck and charting a path to peace seems impossible, that's precisely where leadership matters most-from every angle and on all sides of a conflict. In these moments, available solutions fall short and leaders must help parties navigate the deeper work of examining what they're truly protecting and what they might need to let go of to move forward.
Professor Zartman played a fundamental role in advancing the study, teaching, and practice of negotiation - including his work to expand negotiation teaching beyond the US.
His work is now a foundational part of syllabi wherever international negotiation is taught. The influence of his ideas have rippled through generations of scholars and practitioners. His Ripeness Theory has been further advanced and adapted by Richard Haass, Dean Pruitt, Stephen Stedman, Jannie Lilja, Daniel Druckman, Marieke Kleiboer, and many others - spawning an entire sub-field of scholarship and real-world application across negotiation timing, readiness, internal dynamics, turning points and leadership.
His ideas endure in ongoing efforts to negotiate ends to violent conflict and achieve sustainable peace. Every negotiator who assesses whether a conflict is "ripe," every diplomat who looks for a "mutually hurting stalemate," every peacemaker who helps parties explore a "way out" - we are all his students. Zartman's insights remain vital in this work.
Remarkably, the impact of his work continues to evolve. Shawn Guttman's peacetech startup, https://www.didi4peace.ai, is now building AI tools that apply Ripeness Theory through a Ripeness Index - using AI technology to identify windows of opportunity for negotiation in real-time.
RIP Professor Zartman. With deep respect and admiration for a life of profound impact, in search of peace.
Dr Samba Ka
August 1, 2025
Toutes mes condoléances à la famille de Bill
I a joué un rôle capital dans ma formation intellectuelle en accueillant à bras ouverts ce francophone venu du Sénégal dans un programme de doctorat. Il a pris ce risque
En le faisant il a fait de moi son premier africain francophone docteur en relations internationales : une dette que nous avons essayé d´honorer depuis notre retour au pays
J´ai une vivide mémoire des déjeuners organisés chez lui avec Daniele et Alex (tout petit ) dans les années 85/90
Dr Samba Ka
Mounira Maya Charrad
August 1, 2025
We lost a giant in the study of the Maghreb. He inspired so many of us. Heartfelt condolences to his family.
Eve Cushman Zartman
August 1, 2025
Cousin Bill lived an amazing life by any measure, but I know his greatest love was his immediate family as well as his love for all our Zartman line.
Anthony Wanis-St.John
August 1, 2025
Fair winds and following seas, old sailor. It was wonderful to be inspired by you, and to--on occasion--stand on your great shoulders. Your laughter and collegiality have been a model for us all.
John Entelis
August 1, 2025
Mentor, friend, colleague, lifelong fellow scholar of North Africa--a man of multiple distinctions and accomplishments. He will be sorely missed, never to be replaced. My heartfelt condolences to Daniele and family.
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