Paul Kolbe Heads Center’s Intelligence Project

The Belfer Center is pleased to welcome Paul Kolbe as the Center’s new Intelligence Project Director. Kolbe will build on the work of the former director Rolf Mowatt-Larssen to advance policy-relevant knowledge in intelligence areas and help prepare future leaders in the field. The Intelligence Project is home to an elite roster of former senior intelligence officials and hosts rising stars from intelligence and national security organizations around the world.

“We’re very fortunate to have Paul run the Intelligence Project,” said Belfer Center Director Ash Carter. “His distinguished record in government and business exemplifies the kind of public service we aim to cultivate.”

Kolbe served for 25 years in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations in a variety of foreign and domestic roles, including as Chief of Station, Chief/Central Eurasia Division, and Balkans Group Chief. His overseas assignments included operational and leadership roles in locations ranging from the former Soviet Union and the Balkans to Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, and Central Europe. He was a member of the Senior Intelligence Service and is a recipient of the Intelligence Medal of Merit and the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal. Following his CIA career, Kolbe was Director for Intelligence and Analysis at BP, where he built an enterprise-wide intelligence capability focused on geopolitical threats, strategic cyber threats, and support to commercial operations.

“Intelligence is central to the critical issues our world faces today,” said Kolbe. “I’m excited to explore how the Belfer Center can help prepare a new generation of policymakers to use intelligence to shape their decisions and help tackle the most pressing public challenges.” 

Read more about the project at belfercenter.org/Intelligence