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 sdoolin@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, NY, in 1951. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
Past Research Projects
September 1, 2010
First Take
President Obama's declaration on ending the U.S. combat mission in Iraq did not address crucial questions about America's military role in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, writes CFR President Richard N. Haass.
See more in United States, Iraq, Wars and Warfare
August 23, 2010
Expert Roundup
Five experts address the controversy over the proposed Islamic center near the 9/11 attack site in New York, the foreign policy implications, and how the issue should be resolved.
See more in United States, Religion
August 18, 2010
Op-Ed
Project Syndicate
Richard N. Haass discusses the lessons to be taken from the history of U.S. military involvement in Iraq--and their implications for how to move forward in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran.
See more in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
July 18, 2010
Article
Newsweek
Richard N. Haass says the war in Afghanistan is not succeeding, and the time has come to scale back U.S. objectives and sharply reduce U.S. involvement on the ground.
See more in Asia, Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
July 14, 2010
Interview
Although the Obama administration's dealings with Moscow and Beijing have been handled adroitly, its management of the war in Afghanistan and threats in the Middle East have been less successful, says CFR President Richard Haass.
See more in Afghanistan, Russian Fed., U.S. Strategy and Politics
July 8, 2010, New York
Transcript
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu discusses prospects for a peace settlement and Israel's security concerns, as well as the challenges presented by Iran.
See more in Israel, Palestinian Authority, International Peace and Security
July 8, 2010
Video
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu discusses U.S.-Israel relations, the threat of a nuclear Iran, the peace process, and the possibility of extending a temporary settlement freeze in the West Bank.
See more in Israel, Palestinian Authority, International Peace and Security
July 8, 2010
Audio
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu discusses U.S.-Israel relations, the threat of a nuclear Iran, the peace process, and the possibility of extending a temporary settlement freeze in the West Bank.
See more in Israel, Palestinian Authority, International Peace and Security
June 30, 2010
Audio
Experts discuss how to harness new media technologies to distribute news.
This event was part of the Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship 60th Anniversary Event and was made possible through the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
See more in Information and Communication, Media and Foreign Policy
June 30, 2010
Video
Experts discuss how to harness new media technologies to distribute news.
This event was part of the Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship 60th Anniversary Event and was made possible through the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
See more in Information and Communication, Media and Foreign Policy
June 23, 2010
First Take
President Obama was wise to replace General Stanley McChrystal as Afghan commander, but he should now mount a thorough review of the costly and uncertain nation-building policy in Afghanistan, writes CFR President Richard N. Haass.
See more in Afghanistan, Defense/Homeland Security, U.S. Strategy and Politics
June 21, 2010
Audio
CFR's Sebastian Mallaby argues that hedge funds are an important part of the global economy because they help regulate markets, but are small enough to fail.
See more in Financial Crises, International Finance
June 21, 2010
Video
CFR's Sebastian Mallaby argues that hedge funds are an important part of the global economy because they help regulate markets, but are small enough to fail.
See more in Financial Crises, International Finance
June 17, 2010
Audio
Peter Beinart discusses his new book, The Icarus Syndrome: A History of American Hubris.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Foreign Policy History
June 7, 2010
Audio
Experts analyze global risk on the political, geoeconomic, and corporate horizon. This meeting was cosponsored with Bloomberg.
© 2010 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
See more in Financial Crises, International Finance
June 7, 2010
Video
Experts analyze global risk on the political, geoeconomic, and corporate horizon. This meeting was cosponsored with Bloomberg.
© 2010 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
See more in Financial Crises, International Finance
May 28, 2010
Op-Ed
Wall Street Journal
Richard N. Haass says the United States can send a message to North Korea by signing the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
See more in North Korea, South Korea, Trade, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 27, 2010
Video
Former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright analyzes how transatlantic relations will evolve and why NATO remains relevant today.
This meeting was the annual John B. Hurford Memorial Lecture.
See more in Defense Strategy, NATO
May 27, 2010
Transcript
Dr. Albright will discuss the new recommendations and analyses of the Group of Experts on NATO's New Strategic Concept, including how NATO governments can further transform the Alliance, and the twenty-first century challenges and opportunities the Alliance will face.
See more in Defense Strategy, Global Governance
May 27, 2010
Audio
Former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright analyzes how transatlantic relations will evolve and why NATO remains relevant today.
This meeting was the annual John B. Hurford Memorial Lecture.
See more in Defense Strategy, NATO
CFR experts give their take on the cutting-edge issues emerging in Asia today.
Read the Blog Asia Unbound
Michael Levi examines the science and foreign policy surrounding climate change, energy, and nuclear security. Read the Blog
Explore the global health regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
Explore the past, present, and future of nuclear energy with this new online interactive.
Micah Zenko examines the discrete military operations undertaken by the United States over the past twenty years to discern why they were used, if they achieved their objectives, and what determined their success or failure.
Sebastian Mallaby has written the first authoritative history of hedge funds—from their rebel beginnings to their role in defining the future of finance.
Peter Beinart tells a tale as old as the Greeks—a story about the seductions of success.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
James M. Lindsay
Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
jlindsay@cfr.org
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Director, Fellowship Affairs and Studies Strategic Planning
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
Amy R. Baker
Deputy Director for Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9620
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Victoria Alekhine
Associate Director, Fellowship Affairs
+1.212.434.9489
valekhine@cfr.org