Research, ideas, and leadership for a more secure, peaceful world
The Belfer Center is pleased to announce that Ambassador Ivo H. Daalder, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and President and CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, has joined the Center as a Senior Fellow.
Cambridge, MA – September 15, 2025 – The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School is pleased to announce that Ambassador Ivo H. Daalder has joined the Center as a Senior Fellow. Ambassador Daalder, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO (2009–2013) and President and CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs for more than a decade until earlier this year, brings distinguished diplomatic leadership, policy acumen, and institutional insight to the Belfer Center. His career includes other senior roles in academia and public policy.
“We are delighted to welcome Ambassador Daalder as a full-time Senior Fellow,” said Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Director of the Belfer Center. “Ivo is both a scholar and a practitioner extraordinaire. He will bring his deep expertise, his scholarly pursuits, and his vast network of relationships on both sides of the Atlantic to enrich our work on transatlantic issues at this critical moment in global affairs. Ivo began his career at the Belfer Center as a pre-doctoral fellow, so it is a particular pleasure to welcome him “home”.”
This appointment builds on Ambassador Daalder’s collaboration with the Center earlier this year, when he co-chaired the Belfer Center’s Task Force on Building a European Pillar Within the Transatlantic Relationship. (Belfer Center Senior Fellow Daniela Schwarzer was another co-chair.) The task force’s report, A New Transatlantic Bargain: The Case for Building a Strong European Pillar, released at the Munich Security Conference in February 2025, set out a bold strategy for rebalancing the transatlantic security relationship and strengthening Europe’s role in its own defense—demonstrating Daalder’s leadership and expertise at the forefront of transatlantic security debates. Ambassador Daalder will join the Belfer Center’s project on the Transatlantic Project on Europe, where he will contribute to its work on security, NATO’s evolving role, Europe’s defense capacity, and the future of U.S. strategic partnerships. He will also participate in seminars, media briefings, and public events designed to translate research and task force findings into actionable policy.
Before serving as U.S. Ambassador to NATO and President and CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Daalder was a senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, focusing on American foreign policy and transatlantic security. He previously taught at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, directed research at its Center for International and Security Studies, and served as director for European affairs on President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council staff. The author, co-author, or editor of ten books, including The Empty Throne: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership and the award-winning America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy, Daalder is also a regular media commentator on U.S. foreign policy and international affairs.
Ambassador Daalder’s work on Europe and the transatlantic relationship will be central to the Belfer Center’s focus on the Evolving International Order. This research area also explores the role of Middle Power countries in shaping the global system and the growing alignment among China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Maureen Page, who joins the Belfer Center after 22 years with the U.S. Government, will serve as Associate Director of the initiative.