People to Watch: Obama's Top Foreign Policy Advisers
The following people include President-elect Barack Obama’s inner circle of foreign policy advisors throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, and some of those expected to play key advisory roles to the President-elect throughout the transition period. They are all ones to watch for key foreign policy positions in the Obama Administration.
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Dr. Susan Rice
.jpg) Susan Rice spoke at the Center for U.S. Global Engagement and National Democratic Institute event at the Democratic National Convention about Senator Barack Obama’s commitment to development and diplomacy as critical tools of national security. She also represented Senator Obama at the Center’s Impact ’08 in South Carolina event in January 2008.
Current Position:
Dr. Rice is currently on leave from the Brookings Institution, where she holds the position of Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Global Economy and Development.
Past Government Experience:
Rice served President Clinton as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 1997-2001. She also served in various capacities on President Clinton’s National Security Council, including Senior Director for African Affairs and Director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping at the National Security Council.
Full Bio
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
As Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Dr. Rice visited the majority of the 48 states in Sub-Saharan Africa and lobbied for increasing foreign aid to the region. She supported an all-African peacekeeping force to avert conflict on the continent and supported a congressional measure that allowed Washington to provide food assistance to the rebels in Sudan. Dr. Rice’s work at the Brookings Institution has focused on U.S. foreign policy, weak and failing states, the implications of global poverty and transnational security threats.
Relevant Statements:
Rice, Building a Better, Safer World, August 28, 2008 - Link
“Brokering and supporting peace in conflict zones around the world from the Middle East to Africa, to South Asia, and investing in global poverty reduction, and building the capacity of people in states to provide more effectively for their people, and for their societies, and to govern democratically and responsibly -- all of these are part of an affirmative agenda that Senator Obama is powerfully committed to pursuing.”
Rice, “The Weak State Gap,” The Washington Post: March 7, 2008 - Link
“The United States should increase overall assistance levels to support a wider cohort of weak states and combine development assistance with democracy support, market access, peacekeeping and security sector reform.”
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Ambassador Anthony Lake
.jpg) Anthony Lake endorsed the Center’s Impact ’08 statement on “A 21st Century Vision of US Global Leadership. He spoke at the Center’s event with the National Democratic Institute at the Democratic National Convention about Senator Barack Obama’s commitment to development and diplomacy as critical tools of national security.
Current Position:
Anthony Lake is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.
Past Government Experience:
Dr. Lake served as the National Security Advisor under President Bill Clinton from 1993-1997. In 1962, Lake joined the Foreign Service and was posted to Vietnam, where he was special assistant to Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge. Lake also served as U.S. Vice Consul in Saigon and Hue. By 1969, Lake was an aide to Secretary of State Kissinger, and accompanied him to the first secret meeting with North Vietnamese negotiators in Paris. In 1977, Lake became head of the State Department’s policy planning operation.
Full Bio
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
Dr. Lake has also worked for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and International Voluntary Services. He is the author of several books, including Somoza Falling and The "Tar Baby" Option: American Policy Toward Southern Rhodesia, and co-author of Our Own Worst Enemy: The Unmasking of American Foreign Policy.
Selected Statements:
Lake, Building a Better, Safer World, August 28, 2008 - Link
“[W]e need to integrate the various aspects of American power and influence. Our military power, our diplomatic power, our moral authority, our economic power -- all of them, and bring them together, and that means that we have to reinvigorate them, after years of neglect.”
Lake, “More than Humanitarianism: A Strategic U.S. Approach to Africa – CFR Task Force Report Release” December 5, 2005
“But it is essential that we put that — our military activities more into a diplomatic context, that we address more clearly the longer-term implications of being too involved with governments that are repressive and will therefore at some point fail and embarrass us and undercut our ability to work with those governments and those people in the future.”
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Gregory Craig
.jpg) Gregory Craig spoke at the Center for U.S. Global Engagement and National Democratic Institute event at the Democratic National Convention about Senator Barack Obama’s commitment to development and diplomacy as critical tools of national security. He also represented Senator Obama at the Center’s Impact ’08 in Iowa event in October 2007.
Current Position:
Greg Craig is a partner in the Washington-based law from Williams & Connolly.
Past Government Experience:
Craig has previously served in a variety of appointed positions in U.S. government. In 1998, President Bill Clinton appointed Craig as Assistant to the President and Special Counsel in the White House, where he directed the President’s team defending against impeachment. He was also a member of the President’s trial team in the United States Senate. He was previously a senior advisor to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and served as Director of Policy Planning from 1997–98. In late 1997 he was appointed as a special coordinator to focus attention on China's suppression of Tibet's cultural and religious traditions. Before entering the White House during Clinton Administration, Craig was Senior Advisor on Defense, Foreign Policy and National Security issues for Senator Ted Kennedy.
Full Bio
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
In addition to his government experience, Mr. Craig has represented clients in a number of high-profile international legal cases. In 2000, he successfully represented Elian Gonzalez's father, Mr. Juan Miguel Gonzalez, in administrative and court proceedings involving Mr. Gonzalez's effort to regain custody of his son, Elian. Mr. Craig also represented the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in connection with the Volcker Commission's investigation of the Oil-for-Food Program at the United Nations.
Selected Statements:
Craig, Building a Better, Safer World: August 28, 2008 - Link
“I am grateful for this new organization, the Center for Global Engagement, it has come at the right time, because it's attracting people's attention to precisely the issues that I think are at the heart of selecting the new President of the United States.”
Craig, DNC Panel on the Middle East: August 27, 2008 - Link
“As we have learned, you cannot succeed in situations like Iraq or the Balkans without the cooperation and support, as much as possible, from the neighborhood. There is not only going to be bilateral diplomacy, but multilateral diplomacy. There is not only going to be nation states negotiating, but we are going to try to strengthen international institutions and their relevance.”
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Admiral Richard Danzig
.jpg) Richard Danzig spoke at the Center for U.S. Global Engagement and National Democratic Institute event at the Democratic National Convention about Senator Barack Obama’s commitment to development and diplomacy as critical tools of national security.
Current Position:
Admiral Danzig is a consultant to the U.S. government, a member of the Department of Homeland Security "Net Assessment" Panel on Bioterrorism, a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for New American Security, a CSIS Senior Fellow and a member of the U.S. Military Southern Command Advisory Board.
Past Government Experience:
He served as Secretary of the Navy from November 1998 to January 2001 and was Undersecretary of the Navy from November 1993 to May 1997.
Full Bio
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
Between his appointments as Undersecretary and Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Danzig was a Traveling Fellow in Asia and Europe for the Center of International Political Economy and an Adjunct Professor at Maxwell's School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. In recent years he has been a prominent analyst of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Selected Statements:
Danzig, Panel for the Center for U.S. Global Engagement: August 28, 2008 - Link
“I think a second, very important framing component is the notion of multilateralism, and the involvement of other nations. Absolutely fundamental that we need to rebuild our alliance relationships, and recognize that going it alone puts too much burden on American forces. There are things that our allies can do with us that terribly important, and there are other international instruments that can be used -- the United Nations, for example, is a peacekeeping force -- they're extraordinarily helpful.”
Danzig, A new strategy against NEW threats, St. Petersburg Times, November 21, 2001 - Link
“To maintain our security we must understand and address our vulnerability to non-explosive weapons, at home and abroad. We have to learn not only how to prevent and deter this new warfare, but also how to manage its consequences. Only through a new union of our public health, police and military resources can we hope to deal with this dangerous threat.”
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Denis McDonough
.jpg) Current Position:
Foreign Policy Coordinator for Senator Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
Past Government Experience:
Denis McDonough was Legislative Director for Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado. From July 2000 to December 2004, McDonough was Foreign Policy Adviser to Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
Prior to his work at Obama for America, McDonough was a Senior Fellow and Senior Adviser to Distinguished Senior Fellow Tom Daschle at the Center for American Progress. As Foreign Policy Adviser to Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, McDonough worked extensively on legislation related to the war on terrorism, the response to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, Iraq and the greater Middle East.
Selected Statements:
McDonough, Interview with Media: June 28, 2008 - Link
“[Senator Obama] obviously wants to consult with the leaders of those countries [important U.S. allies] but also find an opportunity to speak to the people of those countries about our shared values and goals.”
McDonough, “Balancing Our Climate Debt: The Group of Eight Have an Obligation,” June 1, 2007 - Link
“What’s clear is that the consequences of climate change will require additional resources over and above those currently dedicated to development. Some of the new investments and programs now required in the developing world include: drought-resistant seeds; new water management technology; improved meteorological forecasting; and climate risk-assessment tools for policy planning. Additional investment and technical assistance in these and other arenas will be crucial to the survival of millions of people in hardest-hit parts of the developing world.”
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Mark Lippert
.jpg) Current Position:
Foreign policy adviser for Senator Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Past Government Experience:
Mark Lippert began his career as a political organizer in Vermont and became a policy advisor to Senator Patrick Leahy and later to Senator Obama. Before joining Senator Obama’s office, Lippert worked for five years in the Senate Appropriations Committee Foreign Operations Subcommittee. He has also handed foreign policy and defense issues for the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
Lippert has been an advocate for rebuilding the U.S. military and increasing the size of the Army and the Marines. He has also focused Senator Obama’s attention on confronting transnational threats unrelated to nation states, like genocide and weapons of mass destruction. In 2005, Lippert traveled with Senator Obama to Russia on a weapons inspection trip, and in 2006 he joined Obama for a trip to Kenya with General Scott Gration. In Kenya, Lippert arranged for Senator and Mrs. Obama to get an HIV test in an effort to publicize the problem of AIDS and to promote testing. Lippert also helped draft a speech in which Obama laid out his foreign policy, calling for new American leadership and stronger engagement around the world.
Selected Statements:
Lippert on serving in Iraq, “The Aide Who Went to War” Newsweek, 7/08 – Link
“I think you recognize that when you work in the Senate, you work at the strategic level. And I was in Iraq at a very tactical level. It would be naïve if I came back and said I have the answer. But what it did do was give me a sense of more personal investment in the place. I’m still very much grappling with it.”
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James Steinberg
 Current Position:
Mr. Steinberg is Dean of the Lyndon Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
Past Government Experience:
Jim Steinberg served as deputy national security advisor to President Bill Clinton. During that period he also served as the president's personal representative to the 1998 and 1999 G-8 summits. Prior to becoming deputy national security advisor, he served as chief of staff of the U.S. State Department and director of the State Department's policy planning staff and as deputy assistant secretary for analysis in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He also served as National Security and Military Affairs Counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.)
Full Bio
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
Mr. Steinberg is a proponent of strengthening the role of diplomacy and foreign assistance in America’s national security strategy. He contributed to recent publications to this effect such as the Project on National Security Reform’s “Preliminary Findings” and The Phoenix Initiative’s “Strategic Leadership: Framework for a 21st Century.
Selected Statements:
Steinberg, “Managing Foreign Policy and National Security Challenges in Presidential Transitions”: Autumn 2008 – Link
“[T]he failure to adapt much of the Cold War national security machinery to emerging transnational security threats means that the incoming team must struggle either to reform or make do with old tools at the same time it is confronting new challenges.”
Steinberg et al, Strategic Leadership, July, 2008 - Link
“The next president of the United States must forge a new national security strategy in a world marked by enormous tumult and change and at a time when America’s international standing and strategic position are at an historic nadir… But to do so will require a new kind of American leadership: strategic leadership… Operationally, strategic leadership has five principal requisites: exercising strong state-craft, ensuring 21st century military strength, enhancing prosperity and development, encouraging democracy and human rights, and energizing America at home.”
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Ambassador Wendy Sherman
 Current Position:
Ambassador Sherman is a Principal of the international advisory firm, The Albright Group.
Past Government Experience:
Prior to forming the Albright Group, Sherman was a Counselor and chief troubleshooter for the U.S. Department of State from 1997 to 2001. Ambassador Sherman served Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as a special advisor and consultant on major issues of foreign policy. At the same time, she was Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State, and the North Korea Policy Coordinator. In the first Clinton Administration, she held the post of Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs.
Full Bio
Foreign Policy Related Activities:
While at the Department of State, Ambassador Sherman hosted an Open Forum on HIV/AIDS and Emerging Infectious Diseases and issued a directive to foreign policy agencies to make the issue a foreign policy priority. She led the successful efforts to obtain the funding for aid to Russia and the Newly Independent States after the break-up of the Soviet Union, and obtained support for the Dayton Accords.
Selected Statements:
Sherman, Interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation: June 13, 2004 - Link
“I think there is no doubt that the future of the world lies in Asia. I think that Australia and the United States are very keen to understand the relationship with China and its role in Asia, its role in the world. America has a very, very strong security alliance with Japan, we have strong security alliances with Korea and obviously first and foremost with Australia. So I think that we all are going to have to focus on the development of this region in the war against terrorism, which is a prime importance to Americans.”
Sherman, “Mission Iraq: Profit Margins,” CNN: December 12, 2003 - Link
“The point here… is that as Senator Frist, the Majority Leader of the Senate, said, these countries are helping us get things done all around the world we need to get done. Whether it is through NATO in Afghanistan, whether it's helping on HIV/AIDS in Africa, we are all in this world together.”
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