Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill
International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Experience
Ambassador Blackwill joined the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, CA, as a Senior Fellow in July, 2008. Prior to serving as President of Barbour Griffith & Rogers (2004-2008), a Washington consulting and government affairs firm, Ambassador Blackwill was Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Planning under President George W. Bush. In this position, Ambassador Blackwill was responsible for government-wide policy planning to help develop and coordinate the mid- and long-term direction of American foreign policy. He also served as Presidential Envoy to Iraq and was the Administration’s Coordinator for U.S. policies regarding Afghanistan and Iran.
Ambassador Blackwill went to the National Security Council after having served as the U.S. Ambassador to India (2001-2003), and is the recipient of the 2007 Bridge-Builder Award for his role in transforming U.S.-India relations. Each year the U.S.-India Business Council confers "The Robert Dean Blackwill Award" to an individual who has made a major contribution to business interactions between the U.S. and India.
Before reentering government in 2001, Blackwill was the Belfer Lecturer in International Security at the Harvard Kennedy School. During his 14 years as a Harvard faculty member, he was Associate Dean of the Kennedy School, taught foreign and defense policy and public policy analysis, and was Faculty Chair for executive training programs for business and government leaders from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Palestinian Authority, Israel and Kazakhstan, as well as military General Officers from Russia and the People’s Republic of China.
From 1989–1990, Ambassador Blackwill was Special Assistant to President George H.W. Bush for European and Soviet Affairs, during which time he was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany for his contribution to German unification. Earlier in his career, he was the U.S. Ambassador to conventional arms negotiations with the Warsaw Pact, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs. The author and editor of many books and articles on Transatlantic relations, Russia and the West, the Greater Middle East and Asian security, he is a Trustee and on the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; The Aspen Strategy Group; The Trilateral Commission; and the Guiding Coalition of the Project on National Security Reform. He is also on the boards of the Nixon Center and Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
June 22 - July 1, 2008
Report of the Strategic Security Issues Delegation to Taiwan and the People's Republic of China (PRC)
Report
By Dr. William J. Perry, Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Admiral (ret.) Joseph W. Prueher, Senior Advisor, Preventive Defense Project, Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Dr. Ashton B. Carter, Co-Director, Preventive Defense Project, Harvard & Stanford Universities, Stephen A. Orlins, President, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Dr. David M. Lampton, Director, China Studies, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Kurt M. Campbell, Former Associate Professor of Public Policy and International Relations, 1988-1993, Harvard Kennedy School; Former Assistant Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 1988-1993; and Former Research Fellow, ISP, 1985-1987, Dr. Ashley Tellis, Dr. Evan Medeiros, Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation and Jan Berris, Vice-President, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
Full text of the trip report from PDP's Track II meetings in Taiwan and the People's Republic of China (PRC).
December 12, 2007
"Forgive Russia, Confront Iran"
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill argues that even though there has been a systemic decline in Russia's relations with the West, the US and other Western powers should forgive their offenses in order to develop sound policy for what should be the West's highest priority- ensuring Iran does not gain possession of nuclear weapons.
June 1, 2006
Jaw-Jaw Before War-War?
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
February 27, 2006
Forging Fresh Bonds
Op-Ed, India Times
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
July 22, 2005
Diplomacy Is Back at the State Department!
Op-Ed, The Wall Street Journal
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Summer 2005
The India Imperative
Journal Article, The National Interest, issue 80
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
March 21, 2005
A New Deal for New Delhi
Op-Ed, The Wall Street Journal
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
December 12, 2004
France in Pain
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
July, 2000
America's Asian Alliances
Book
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Paul Dibb
Unlike the new and largely peaceful Europe, the Asia-Pacific region is fraught with old instabilities and new risks, as well as opportunities. America's Asian alliances face an arc of potential instability, from the divided Korean peninsula in Northeast Asia, to the nuclear confrontation between India and Pakistan on the South Asian subcontinent, to an unstable Indonesia in Southeast Asia. The United States and its allies must also address the rise of Chinese power, slow the spread of nuclear and high-tech conventional weapons, maintain access to energy resources, and expand the world free-trade system.
August, 1997
Allies Divided: Transatlantic Policies for the Greater Middle East
Book
By Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Michael Sturmer
The shifting global security and defense landscape of the post-Cold War era has led the West to reexamine regional priorities and existing international institutions. Many scholars have written on how best to coordinate policy on the security of Central Europe and the states of the former Soviet Union, and on reforming NATO and the OSCE. Very few scholars, however, have prescribed policy for transatlantic cooperation toward threats that transcend Europe and NATO, especially in the Middle East.
