Press Release
Cambridge, MA — The Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs will welcome nine senior fellows to the Harvard Kennedy School campus between February and April 2018. All fellows will be actively engaged in Project programming, including chairing seminars with students, conducting research, and playing an active role in the intellectual life of the Harvard Kennedy School.
“We are grateful that these outstanding public servants will contribute to the education of our students at the Kennedy School this semester,” said R. Nicholas Burns, Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations and faculty director of the Future of Diplomacy Project. “They will help us build support for the importance of diplomacy in the world today and in the resolution of some of the world’s most pressing problems.”
In addition to hosting these nine fellows, the Project will present events with Fu Ying, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the People’s National Congress of China; Thomas Shannon, outgoing U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; Jack Reed, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island; and Ambassador Victoria Nuland, CEO of the Center for a New American Security and former Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State.
Spring 2018 Fellows:
The Rt. Honourable Douglas Alexander is a returning non-resident Senior Fellow. Mr. Alexander was Shadow Foreign Secretary for Her Majesty’s Official Opposition in the U.K. from 2011-2015. Currently, he serves as a Visiting Professor at King's College, London and is a Member of the European Council of Foreign Relations. In November 2015, Alexander was appointed senior advisor to Bono. In this capacity, he advises Bono on how best to secure investment to tackle global poverty, particularly in Africa. He previously held numerous senior U.K. Ministerial positions (2001-2010), including as Minister for Europe, as Secretary of State for International Development and U.K. Governor of the World Bank. In addition, Alexander coordinated the Labour Party’s 2001 general election campaign for then-Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Dr. Robert Danin is a returning non-resident Senior Fellow. Dr. Danin is also a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he headed the Jerusalem Mission of the Quartet representative, Tony Blair, from April 2008 until August 2010. A former career State Department official with over twenty years of Middle East experience, Dr. Danin previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs with responsibilities for Israeli-Palestinian issues and Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. He also served at the National Security Council for over three years; first as director for Israeli-Palestinian affairs and the Levant, and then as acting senior director for Near East and North African affairs.
Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky is a returning non-resident Senior Fellow. Dr. Dobriansky served as Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001-2009) and established and led the U.S.-India, U.S.-China and U.S.-Brazil Global Issues Fora. As the President's Envoy to Northern Ireland (2007-2009), Dobriansky contributed to the historic devolution of power in Belfast, for which she received the Secretary of State's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal. During her more than 25 years in national security affairs, she has held high level positions including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs and Director of European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council. From 2010-2012, she was Senior Vice President and Global Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Thomson Reuters and also held the Distinguished National Security Chair at the U.S. Naval Academy. A member of CFR and the American Academy of Diplomacy, Dobriansky serves on the Atlantic Council board and is a Trustee of the Trilateral Commission.
Ambassador Douglas Lute is a returning non-resident Senior Fellow. He served as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2013-2017. A career Army officer, Lute retired from active duty in 2010 as a lieutenant general after 35 years of service. In 2007, President George W. Bush named him as Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor to coordinate the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Across these two Administrations, he served a total of six years in the White House. Ambassador Lute served as Director of Operations (J3) on the Joint Staff, overseeing U.S. military operations worldwide. From 2004 to 2006, he was Director of Operations for the United States Central Command with responsibility for U.S. military operations in 25 countries across the Middle East, eastern Africa and Central Asia. In earlier assignments, he served as Deputy Director of Operations for the United States European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, Assistant Division Commander in the 1st Infantry Division in Germany, Commander of U.S. Forces in Kosovo, and Commander of the Second Cavalry Regiment.
Dina H. Powell is a non-resident Senior Fellow. Ms. Powell served as Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy in the Trump Administration and Senior Counselor for Economic Initiatives from January to December 2017. She spent over a decade at Goldman Sachs where she was a partner and served as global head of the firm’s impact investment business. At the Goldman Sachs Foundation, she oversaw two major initiatives including 10,000 Women and 10,000 Small Businesses.¬ Ms. Powell served in the George W. Bush Administration as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Deputy Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy, and as Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel. She also serves on the boards of the Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Initiative and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Lord Peter Ricketts is a Fisher Family Fellow (in residence in April 2018) and a life peer in the House of Lords in the United Kingdom. Lord Peter has spent 40 years as a member of the Diplomatic Service. His final post was Ambassador in Paris (2012-2016). Before that he was the UK’s first National Security Adviser (2010-2012), and in that role was the coordinator of the 2010 National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review. He was Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Head of the Diplomatic Service (2006-2010). In addition, he worked in senior roles on politico-military issues and crisis management, including spells as the FCO Political Director (2001-2003) and Permanent Representative to NATO (2003-2006).
Sir John Sawers is a Fisher Family Fellow (in residence February-March 2018). He was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, from 2009 to 2014, a period of international upheaval and growing security threats as well as closer public scrutiny of the intelligence agencies. Prior to that, he was the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United Nations (2007-2009), political director and main board member of the Foreign Office (2003-2007), special representative in Iraq (2003), ambassador to Egypt (2001-03) and foreign policy advisor to the Prime Minister (1999-2001). Earlier in his career, he was posted to Washington, South Africa, Syria and Yemen as a diplomat for the United Kingdom.
Jake Sullivan is a returning non-resident Senior Fellow. He also serves as Martin R. Flug Visiting Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. He served in the Obama administration as national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden and Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, as well as deputy chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He was the Senior Policy Adviser on Secretary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. Previously, he served as deputy policy director on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential primary campaign, and a member of the debate preparation team for Barack Obama's general election campaign.
Radoslaw (Radek) Sikorski is a Fisher Family Fellow (in residence in April 2018). His is a Distinguished Statesman at the CSIS and a Senior Advisor at the Eurasia Group. He was previously a senior figure in Polish politics, serving as speaker of Poland’s lower house, as foreign minister in Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s cabinet from (2007 - 2014) and as defense minister in (2005 – 2007). He also held earlier positions in government, including as deputy minister of national defense in 1992 and as deputy minister of foreign affairs from 1998-2001. With Carl Bildt, the former Prime Minister of Sweden, he is seen as one of the principle architects of the EU Eastern Partnership Policy. In his early career, Sikorski was a war correspondent in Afghanistan and Angola.
The work of the Fisher Family Fellows at the Harvard Kennedy School is made possible through The Richard and Nancy Fisher Family Fellows Program, created in 2010, by Nancy and Richard W. Fisher, AB ’71, long-time supporters of Harvard University’s international engagement and teaching. Fellows spend time on campus for up to a month in residence. Senior Fellows are non-resident experts who work closely with the Directors of the Future of Diplomacy Project and engage with students, faculty and fellows as part of shorter-term visits each semester.
Led by R. Nicholas Burns (Faculty Director) and Cathryn Clüver (Executive Director), the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs is dedicated to promoting the study and understanding of diplomacy, negotiation and statecraft in international politics today. The Project aims to build Harvard Kennedy School’s ability to teach in this area, to support research in modern diplomatic practice and to build public understanding of diplomacy’s indispensible role in an increasingly complex and globalized world.