Stephen Payne (lobbyist) - International Relations

International Relations

Payne has served as Honorary Consul General for the Republic of Latvia for the South central U.S. region (with headquarters in Houston) since 1999, and has served as an adviser to Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga on political and economic issues. In 2004, President Freiberga awarded Payne Latvia's highest state honor, the Order of the Three Stars, for his work in helping Latvia become a NATO member. For the 2006 NATO Summit in Riga, Latvia, Payne was appointed by NATO to lead a think tank conference panel discussion on energy security and chair a NATO Future Leaders Forum bringing together up-and-coming leaders from 35 NATO member and partner countries. He has also served on the board of directors of the U.S.-Baltic Foundation, which promotes free markets in the Baltic States.

After Sept 11, 2001, according to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, Payne played a pivotal in U.S. Pakistan relations, serves on behalf of the Pakistan Lobby in the United States through a group called Team Eagle (also known as Team Barakat).Tilghman, Andrew (July 15, 2008). "Stephen Payne Worked For Pakistan After Sept. 11". TPM Mudracker. Retrieved 2008-07-24. Payne worked as a lobbyist for Pakistan to deliver a multibillion dollar U.S. aid package and to remove U.S. economic and military sanctions against Pakistan that had been in place for several years. Payne also helped Pakistan secure Major non-NATO ally status, which Pakistan received in 2004. Payne also helped to secure F-16s, C-130s and military helicopters for Pakistan.

In April 2006, Payne helped arrange an official meeting between the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and U.S. president George W. Bush in April 2006, something the Azerbaijani president had been attempting for three years.

He also assisted in having the Uzbek opposition politician Muhammad Salih's name removed from Interpol's arrest warrant list and from the U.S.'s terrorist watchlist.

Payne also assisted Turkmenistan in assembling a consortium of nations and international firms to build a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan. Payne coordinated a trilateral summit between the Presidents of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan that produced a memorandum of understanding regarding the Turkmen/Afghan natural gas pipeline, restoring the project's viability after years of dormancy at the hands of the Taliban.

He has also lobbied on behalf of the governments of Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates, and performed consulting in Iraq, which he has visited twice. He has also served on the board of the National Defense University Foundation.

The lobbyist Randy Scheunemann has collaborated with Payne's firms on international matters since 2002, and Payne has also partnered in his various business ventures with Frank Carlucci, Michael S. Han, Ying Wang, and W. Dieter Zander.

In 2010, leading a public relations team, Payne assisted Alexi Ogando, now a starting pitcher for the Texas Rangers (baseball), in obtaining his U.S. visa. Ogando had been permanently banned from the U.S. in 2005 because of his involvement in a human trafficking ring.

In April 2011, Payne co-led a private, non-official U.S. diplomacy delegation to Libya, which included former U.S Congressman Curt Weldon, just after the February 17th uprising. Theirs was the first delegation visiting Tripoli to publicly call for Muammar Gaddafi to step down. According to a press release from Curt Weldon, their delegation was also working toward the release of Libyan rape victim, Iman al-Obeidi,and four captive journalists, including U.S. journalists Clare Gillis and James Foley.