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 ( RICHARD HAASS - LONG 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 July 2003. 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 eleven books on American foreign policy, including War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars (Simon and Schuster, May 2009). He is also the author of one book on management: The Bureaucratic Entrepreneur: How to Be Effective in Any Unruly Organization (Brookings, 1999).
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 U.S. envoy to 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, Georgetown University, and Oberlin College.
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
June 26, 2009
Video
Watch Philip Pan discuss his book Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China, recipient of the 2009 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations.
See more in China, Society and Culture
June 26, 2009
Audio
Listen to Philip Pan discuss his book Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China, recipient of the 2009 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations.
See more in China, Society and Culture
June 26, 2009
Interview
CFR President Richard N. Haass says in the aftermath of the Iranian regime's crackdown on post-election protesters, the Obama administration will need to revive efforts to negotiate an end to Tehran's nuclear program.
June 1, 2009
Op-Ed
Wall Street Journal
Richard N. Haass discusses President Obama's speech in Cairo.
See more in Middle East, Egypt, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency
May 28, 2009
Video
Watch Jeffrey Mankoff, adjunct fellow for Russia studies at CFR, discuss his new book, Russian Foreign Policy: The Return of Great Power Politics.
See more in Russian Fed., Foreign Policy History
May 28, 2009
Audio
Listen to Jeffrey Mankoff, adjunct fellow for Russia studies at CFR, discuss his new book, Russian Foreign Policy: The Return of Great Power Politics.
See more in Russian Fed., Foreign Policy History
May 28, 2009
Audio
Listen to CFR President Richard N. Haass discuss his new book, War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars, as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call series.
See more in Wars and Warfare, Religion
May 2009
Book
In this compelling book, Richard N. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped the conduct of two wars between the United States and Iraq involving the two presidents Bush and Saddam Hussein, and writes an authoritative, personal account of how U.S. foreign policy is made, what it should seek, and how it should be pursued.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare
May 14, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Richard N. Haass argues that "partial success" is preferable to "expensive failures" in U.S. foreign policy.
See more in Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 13, 2009
Audio
Listen to Richard N. Haass speak about his book War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars, which details how and why the two wars resulted from two different policymaking processes, approaches to U.S. foreign policy, and presidential personalities.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 13, 2009
Video
Watch Richard N. Haass speak about his book War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars, which details how and why the two wars resulted from two different policymaking processes, approaches to U.S. foreign policy, and presidential personalities.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 4, 2009, New York, NY
Transcript
A Council on Foreign Relations meeting on President Richard Haass's new book, War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare
May 8, 2009
Audio
Listen to CFR President Richard N. Haass discuss his new book, War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars, with educators as part of CFR's Academic Conference Call series.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Foreign Policy History
May 7, 2009
Audio
Listen to experts debate global institutional reform, including changes to the UN Security Council and international financial institutions, and the role the United States should be playing.
This session was part of the CFR Symposium on the United States and the Future of Global Governance, which was made possible by the generous support of the Robina Foundation.
See more in Global Governance, International Organizations
May 7, 2009
Video
Watch experts debate global institutional reform, including changes to the UN Security Council and international financial intstitutions, and the role the United States should be playing.
This session was part of the CFR conference: The United States and the Future of Global Governance, which was made possible through the generous support of the Robina Foundation.
See more in Global Governance, International Organizations
May 7, 2009, New York, NY
Transcript
What new forms of international financial and monetary coordination and regulation are required in light of the global economic crisis? How should the United States work to reform the Bretton Woods Institutions? Should the BRICs and other developing countries have an increased role at the IMF and World Bank? What are the preconditions for a U.S.-China bargain on global monetary and financial issues?
See more in Financial Crises, International Finance
May 5, 2009
Op-Ed
Washingtonpost.com
Richard N. Haass argues that justifiable war is a more useful concept than just war.
See more in Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 4, 2009
Op-Ed
Huffington Post
Richard N. Haass argues that the second Iraq war was a war of choice - and a blunder.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 4, 2009
Audio
Listen to CFR President Richard N. Haass discuss his new book, War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars.
See more in Iraq, Defense Strategy, Foreign Policy History
May 3, 2009
Op-Ed
Project Syndicate
Richard N. Haass argues that President Obama's foreign policy will likely resemble that of George H.W. Bush.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Foreign Policy History
Explore international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
The Canadian oil sands present an important challenge to policymakers: they promise energy security benefits but present climate change problems. Michael A. Levi assesses the energy security and climate change effects of the oil sands and makes recommendations for U.S. policymakers within the context of broader bilateral relations with Canada.
This report explores an important element of the maritime policy regime: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Author Scott G. Borgerson examines the international negotiations that led to the convention, the history of debates in the United States over whether to join it, and the strategic importance of the oceans for U.S. foreign policy today.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
In War of Necessity, War of Choice, Richard N. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped the conduct of two wars between the United States and Iraq involving the two presidents Bush and Saddam Hussein, and writes an authoritative, personal account of how U.S. foreign policy is made, what it should seek, and how it should be pursued.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba’s unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
As Ray Takeyh shows in Guardians of the Revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans of Iran is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
Complete list of CFR Books
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
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
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.