home > the cfr think tank > experts > richard n. haass
President, Council on Foreign Relations
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9543; for all media requests, contact Lisa Shields at +1-212-434-9888 or lshields@cfr.org
E-mail: president@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
One-page bio (PDF, 49K)
Video clip (MP4, 1.9 MB)
Video clip (MP4, 689K)
Expertise:
U.S. foreign policy; international security; globalization; Asia; Middle East
Experience:Dr. Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a position he has held since July2003. The Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization,think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.
Dr. Haass is the author or editor of ten books on American foreign policy. His most recent book, The Opportunity: America's Moment to Alter History's Course, was published by Public Affairs. He is also the author of one book on management: The Bureaucratic Entrepreneur: How to Be Effective in Any Unruly Organization.
From January 2001 to June 2003, Dr. Richard Haass was director of policy planning for the Department of State, where he was a principal adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Confirmed by the U.S. Senate to hold the rank of ambassador, Dr. Haass also served as U.S. coordinator for policy toward the future of Afghanistan and was the lead U.S. government official in support of the Northern Ireland peace process. For his efforts, he received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award.
Dr. Haass has extensive additional government experience. From 1989 to 1993, he was special assistant to President George H. W. Bush and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. In 1991, Dr. Haass was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal for his contributions to the development and articulation of U.S. policy during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Previously, he served in the Departments of State (1981-85) and Defense (1979-80) and was a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate.
Dr. Haass also was vice president and director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, the Sol M. Linowitz visiting professor of international studies at Hamilton College, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. A Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Haass holds a BA from Oberlin College and the Master and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University. He has received honorary doctorates from Hamilton College, Franklin & Marshall College, and Georgetown University.
Dr. Richard Haass was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1951. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
Past Research Projects
December 16, 2008
Op-Ed
Financial Times
Richard Haass and Martin Indyk argue that Obama "can capitalise on new opportunities rather than be overwhelmed by old realities in this critical and troubled region."
See more in Middle East, U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
December 10, 2008
Video
Watch First Lady Laura Bush reflect on the global state of human rights, with particular emphasis on Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Afghanistan.
December 10, 2008
Audio
Listen to First Lady Laura Bush reflect on the global state of human rights, with particular emphasis on Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Afghanistan.
See more in Afghanistan, Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights
December 10, 2008
Transcript
Listen to First Lady Laura Bush reflect on the global state of human rights, with particular emphasis on Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Afghanistan.
See more in United States, Democracy and Human Rights
December 9, 2008
Video
Watch former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright discuss measures the next administration can take to mitigate potential sources of crisis across the world.
See more in Defense/Homeland Security, International Peace and Security
December 9, 2008
Transcript
Session I of a Council on Foreign Relations Center for Preventive Action Symposium.
See more in Conflict Prevention
December 9, 2008
Audio
Listen to former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright discuss measures the next administration can take to mitigate potential sources of crisis across the world.
See more in Defense/Homeland Security, International Peace and Security, U.S. Strategy and Politics
December 8, 2008
Op-Ed
Newsweek
Richard Haass writes that "Americans must accept China's rise. There's no guarantee we could prevent it anyway, and the attempt would only worsen the rivalry."
See more in China, U.S. Election 2008
January/February 2009
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
To be successful in the Middle East, the Obama administration will need to move beyond Iraq, find ways to deal constructively with Iran, and forge a final-status Israeli-Palestinian agreement.
See more in Middle East, Foreign Policy History
December 3, 2008
Video
Watch Tony Blair, Middle East peace envoy and former prime minister of the United Kingdom, speak about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
See more in Middle East, Defense/Homeland Security, Democracy and Human Rights
December 3, 2008
Audio
Listen to Tony Blair, Middle East peace envoy and former prime minister of the United Kingdom, speak about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
See more in Middle East, Defense/Homeland Security, Democracy and Human Rights
December 3, 2008
Transcript
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair discusses the Middle East
See more in Middle East, International Organizations, Diplomacy
December 2, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss the recommendations of the new report Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President, advocating a new approach in the region, focusing on the Arab-Israeli peace process and Iran's nuclear program.
See more in Middle East, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency
December 2, 2008
Video
Watch experts discuss the recommendations of the new report Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President, advocating a new approach in the region, focusing on the Arab-Israeli peace process and Iran's nuclear program.
See more in Middle East, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency
December 2, 2008
Transcript
The launch of the joint Council on Foreign Relations and Saban Center book Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President, a series of policy recommendations for the next U.S. president pertaining to U.S. strategy in the Middle East.
See more in Middle East, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency
December 1, 2008
Transcript
Session I of a Council on Foreign Relations Symposium on the U.S.-Japan Partnership: An Agenda for Change.
This session was part of the CFR Symposium on the U.S.-Japan Partnership: An Agenda for Change, cosponsored with the Asahi Shimbun.
December 1, 2008
Video
Watch experts reflect on global challenges such as the rise of China, climate change, and energy security and how these affect the U.S.-Japan partnership.
This session was part of the CFR Symposium on the U.S.-Japan Partnership: An Agenda for Change, cosponsored with the Asahi Shimbun.
See more in Japan, U.S. Strategy and Politics
December 1, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts reflect on global challenges such as the rise of China, climate change, and energy security and how these affect the U.S.-Japan partnership.
This session was part of the CFR Symposium on the U.S.-Japan Partnership: An Agenda for Change, cosponsored with the Asahi Shimbun.
See more in Japan, U.S. Strategy and Politics
November 15, 2008
Audio
Listen to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speak about U.S.-Russia relations in the next administration with former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright.
See more in Russian Fed., U.S. Strategy and Politics
November 15, 2008
Video
Watch Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speak about U.S.-Russia relations in the next administration with former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright.
See more in Russian Fed., U.S. Strategy and Politics
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Gary Samore
Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9627
gsamore@cfr.org
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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