Richard N. Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations, a position he has held since 2003.
Before joining the Council on Foreign Relations, Haass was Director of Policy Planning for the Department of State, from January 2001 to June 2003, where he was a principal adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Confirmed by the US Senate to hold the rank of ambassador, Haass also served as US coordinator for policy toward the future of Afghanistan, and US envoy to the Northern Ireland peace process, for which he received the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award.
From 1989 to 1993, Haass 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, he was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal for his contributions to the development and articulation of US 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 US Senate.
Haass has also been a 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, Haass holds a BA from Oberlin College (1973) and a master’s and doctorate from Oxford University. He has received honorary degrees from Hamilton College, Franklin & Marshall College, Georgetown University, Oberlin College, Central College, and Miami Dade College.
Richard Haass is the author or editor of twelve books on American foreign policy and one book on management, including War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars (2010); Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President (2008); Honey and Vinegar: Incentives, Sanctions, and Foreign Policy (2000); and, most recently, Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America’s House in Order (2013).
Haass was also a C.V. Star Distinguished Visitor at the American Academy in 2006.
Photo courtesy Council on Foreign Relations