An invaluable primer from Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, that will help anyone, expert and nonexpert alike, navigate a time in which many of our biggest challenges come from the world beyond our borders.
About the Expert
Expert Bio
Dr. Richard Haass is a veteran diplomat, a prominent voice on American foreign policy, and an established leader of nonprofit institutions. He is in his seventeenth year as president of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, publisher, and educational institution dedicated to being a resource to help people better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.
In 2013, he served as the chair of the multiparty negotiations in Northern Ireland that provided the foundation for the 2014 Stormont House Agreement. For his efforts to promote peace and conflict resolution, he received the 2013 Tipperary International Peace Award.
From January 2001 to June 2003, Dr. Haass was director of policy planning for the Department of State, where he directed the policy planning staff and was a principal advisor 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.
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 (1981–1985) and Defense (1979–1980), and was a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate.
A Rhodes Scholar, Dr. Haass holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctorate of philosophy degrees from Oxford University. He has also received numerous honorary degrees and was a member of the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Hamilton College.
Dr. Haass is the author or editor of fourteen books on American foreign policy and one book on management. His latest book is The World: A Brief Introduction, published by Penguin Press.
Dr. Haass was born in Brooklyn, New York, and lives in New York City.
Affiliations:
- Member, Board of Directors, Lazard
- Member, Advisory Board, Cyrus Capital Partners
- Member, Investment Committee, Safra Foundation
- Consultant: Palantir, Dataminr, and Percipient.Ai
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CFR President Richard N. Haass argues for an updated global operating system to address challenges from terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons to climate change and cyberspace.
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Globalization is a reality that cannot be ignored or wished away. The only choice is how best to respond.
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An invaluable primer from Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, that will help anyone, expert and nonexpert alike, navigate a time in which many of our biggest challenges come from the world beyond our borders.
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Beijing poses some real challenges, but the most formidable threats the U.S. now faces are transnational problems like pandemics, climate change, cyberattacks, and terrorism.
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Treating COVID-19 as a war of choice rather than one of necessity has proved extraordinarily costly.
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The agreement between the United States and the Taliban is almost certain to fail. The United States needs a plan B.
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The coronavirus represents the biggest challenge to the Chinese Communist Party since the 1989 Tiananmen protests.
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The Trump administration’s proposal is a recipe for a Palestinian state in principle but not in practice.
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The decision to kill Qassem Suleimani will likely force President Trump to devote additional resources to the Middle East at a time of growing concern about North Korea, Russia, and China.
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The assassination of Qassem Suleimani may have been legally justifiable but was not strategically prudent.
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The United States has dialed down both its presence and role in a region that it has dominated for nearly a half-century.
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We are entering a new and dangerous period of nuclear competition.
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President Trump’s abandonment of the Kurds reinforced already existing doubts in the region and around the world that the United States remains a reliable ally.
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What happens within a country can no longer be considered its concern alone in a global age.
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Diplomacy could well come to occupy center stage for a president who relishes summitry.
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A turn toward Pakistan and away from India, as well as a race for the exits from Afghanistan, would be unwise.
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We may well come to look back on this moment as the time in which Asia began to come apart.
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The Trump administration's pressure on Iran has created an opening for diplomacy.
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It is time for a paradigm shift in how we think about the Middle East.
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It is time to put denuclearization on the back burner and adopt realistic approaches toward North Korea. An all-or-nothing approach will yield nothing, leaving the United States worse off than before the diplomatic outreach began.