The NSC in the Obama era: Afg-Pak-Iraq

The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs will host an off-the-record seminar with Colonel John Tien on Tuesday, June 2nd in the Belfer Center Library (L369).

Colonel John K. Tien speaks off-the-record on current Afghanistan-Pakistan and Iraq policy from his seat as the Acting Senior Director for the Afghanistan Directorate, National Security Council, The White House. He will also admit (off-the-record) that he now realizes he should have been more diligent in his "Memorandum for the President" assignments at HKS as a National Security Fellow last year.

Colonel John Tien is an active duty US Army officer and is currently the Acting Senior Director for the Afghanistan Directorate for the National Security Council, The White House. Colonel Tien's most recent troop assignment was as the battalion commander for 2-37 Armor Battalion in Iraq. As the Task Force 2-37 commander, then Lieutenant Colonel Tien commanded over 1100 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom from January 2006 to February 2007. As a battalion, they helped start the Al Anbar Awakening in the city of Ramadi in 2006-2007 which then spread to the rest of Iraq and helped turn the tide of the war to the positive in Iraq.

Tien holds a BS in Civil Engineering from West Point and an MA in Political Science from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He taught political science in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point, served as a White House Fellow from 1998-1999, and from 2007-2008, attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he was a National Security and Army War College Fellow. His awards and decorations include the Presidential Unit Citation, Valorous Unit Award, Bronze Star Medal, Combat Action Badge, and the Presidential Service Badge. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, French American Foundation, and the Association of the United States Army. John, his wife, Tracy, and their two teenage daughters, Amanda and Rebecca, currently live in Fairfax, Virginia.