Richard N. Haass
Haass in 2023
President of theCouncil on Foreign Relations
In office July 16, 2003 – June 30, 2023
Preceded by	Leslie H. Gelb
Succeeded by	Michael Froman
United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland
In office February 6, 2001 – July 12, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	George Mitchell
Succeeded by	Mitchell Reiss
21stDirector of Policy Planning
In office February 6, 2001 – July 12, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Morton Halperin
Succeeded by	Mitchell Reiss
Personal details
Born	Richard Nathan Haass (1951-07-28)July 28, 1951 (age 74) Brooklyn,New York, U.S.
Party	Republican (Before 2020) Independent (2020–present)[1]
Spouse	Susan Mercandetti(1990–present)
Children	2
Education	Oberlin College(BA) Wadham College, Oxford(MPhil) St Antony's College, Oxford(DPhil)
Awards	Presidential Citizens Medal Secretary's Distinguished Service Award Tipperary International Peace Award Gold and Silver Star of the Order of the Rising Sun[2]

Richard Nathan Haass (born July 28, 1951) is an American diplomat. He was president of theCouncil on Foreign Relations from July 2003 to June 2023, prior to which he wasdirector of policy planning for theUnited States Department of State and a close advisor to Secretary of StateColin Powell in theGeorge W. Bush administration. In October 2022, Haass announced he would be departing from his position at CFR in June 2023.^[3] He was succeeded by former U.S. trade representativeMichael Froman.^[4]

TheSenate approved Haass as a candidate for the position of ambassador and he has been U.S. coordinator for the future of Afghanistan. He succeededGeorge J. Mitchell as theUnited States special envoy for Northern Ireland to help the peace process inNorthern Ireland, for which he received theState Department's Distinguished Service Award.

At the end of 2003,Mitchell Reiss succeeded him as special envoy. In late 2013, Haass returned to Northern Ireland to chair inter-party talks aimed at addressing some of the unresolved issues from thepeace process such asparades,flags, and "the past" (now known as "theTroubles").^[5]

Haass was born to aJewish family inBrooklyn, the son of Marcella (née Rosenthal) and Irving B. Haass.^[6][7] Haass graduated fromRoslyn High School in 1969.^[8] His father was a securities analyst and partner at investment management firm David J. Greene & Co.^[7] He completed a bachelor's degree atOberlin College in 1973, and was aRhodes scholar atOxford University, where he completed a master's degree and doctoral degree in 1978.^[9]

Haass served at theDepartment of Defense from 1979 to 1980, and at theDepartment of State from 1981 to 1985. From 1989 to 1993, he was special assistant toPresidentGeorge H. W. Bush andNational Security Council senior director for Near East and South Asian Affairs. In 1991, Haass received thePresidential Citizens Medal for helping to develop and explain U.S. policy duringOperation Desert Shield andOperation Desert Storm.

Richard Haass worked for Secretary of StateColin Powell in the Bush administration and was director of policy planning at the State Department from 2001 to 2003 during the lead-up to the Iraq War. Haass has said he was 60 percent against the Iraq War.^[10]

Haass's other postings include vice president and director of foreign policy studies at theBrookings Institution, the Sol M. Linowitz Visiting Professor of International Studies atHamilton College, a senior associate at theCarnegie Endowment for International Peace, a lecturer in public policy atHarvard University'sKennedy School of Government, and a research associate at theInternational Institute for Strategic Studies.^[11]

Throughout the2008 presidential campaign, Haass advised several members of both theRepublican Party andDemocratic Party on issues regarding foreign policy, but did not publicly endorse a candidate due to theCouncil on Foreign Relations' non-partisan stance.^[12]

In September 2013, Haass returned toNorthern Ireland, with ProfessorMeghan O'Sullivan, to chair all party talks on flags, parades and the legacy of The Troubles, after violence flared over the removal of theunion flag atBelfast City Hall. The talks broke down on December 31, 2013.^[5]

Haass joined the investment banking firmCenterview Partners as a senior counselor in 2023.^[13][14] He is a member of theInter-American Dialogue.

In a May 2015 interview withBBC'sHARDtalk, speaking as President of theCouncil on Foreign Relations, Haass predicted a new era in world history, in part due to the muting of U.S. dominance by the more diffuse power wielded by states and non-state entities as a result of the proliferationof nuclear arms andcyberterrorism, and several policy failures, which may bring about an "era of disorder" in the absence of any clearsuperpower.^[15]

On October 4, 2017, Haass called for U.S. Secretary of StateRex Tillerson to resign.^[16]

In December 2021, Haass criticized theBiden administration'swithdrawal from Afghanistan as “America-first unilateralism in practice," indicating that Biden “did so in a Trumpian way, consulting minimally with others and leaving NATO allies to scramble.”^[17]

In April 2023, former U.S. officials including Richard Haass, Charles Kupchan, Thomas Graham, and Mary Beth Long, among others, were reported to have conducted unofficial meetings with Russian foreign ministerSergey Lavrov.^[18] In an extensive article published by the Council on Foreign Relations' Foreign Affairs, Haass and Kupchan detailed what they termed as a "a plan for getting from the battlefield to the negotiating table." These interactions were allegedly centered on adjusting U.S. policy with the intent of facilitating Russia's acquisition of Ukrainian territory, an action that is purportedly in violation of U.S. law. The engagement of former U.S. officials in informal dialogues with Russians has led to a schism among American diplomats, foreign policy academics, and national security experts. Michael McFaul, former U.S. ambassador to Russia under President Obama, voiced concern that conversations about potential resolutions without involvement of Ukrainian representatives, could undermine the stance of the Biden administration insisting that Ukraine’s future can't be decided in backrooms: “If you’re having Track Two negotiations about how to end the war, Ukrainians have to be there,” said McFaul.^[19]

Haass lives inNew York City with his wife, Susan Mercandetti;^[20] they have two children.^[21]

According toAxios, Haass is a member ofDialog, a secret society founded byPeter Thiel andAuren Hoffman.^[22]

Haass is the author or editor of thirteen books on American foreign policy and one book on management.

Books authored:

• The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens. New York: Penguin Press. 2023.ISBN 9780525560654.OCLC 1340645618.
• The World: A Brief Introduction.Penguin Press, 2020.ISBN 978-0399562396.
• A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order.Penguin Press, 2017.ISBN 978-0399562365.
• Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America's House in Order.Basic Books, 2014.ISBN 978-0465071999.
• War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars.Simon & Schuster, 2010.ISBN 978-1416549031.
• Co-authored with Martin Indyk (2008).Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President.Brookings Institution Press.ISBN 978-0815738695.
• The Opportunity.PublicAffairs, 2006.ISBN 978-1586484538.
• Intervention: The Use of American Military Force in the Post-Cold War World.Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999.ISBN 978-0870031359.
• The Bureaucratic Entrepreneur: How to Be Effective in Any Unruly Organization.Brookings Institution Press, 1999.ISBN 978-0815733539.
• Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy.Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1998.ISBN 978-0876092125.
• The Reluctant Sheriff: The United States After the Cold War.Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1997.ISBN 978-0876091982.^[23]
• The Power to Persuade.Houghton Mifflin, 1994.ISBN 978-0395675854.
• Conflicts Unending: The United States and Regional Disputes.Yale University Press, 1990.ISBN 978-0300045550.

Books edited

• Transatlantic Tensions: The United States, Europe, and Problem Countries.Brookings Institution Press, 1999.ISBN 978-0815733522.
• Superpower Arms Control: Setting the Record Straight, edited withAlbert Carnesale. Ballinger Publishing Company, 1987.ISBN 978-0887302282.

Book contributions

• "War Can Be Justified When It Is the Best Policy Option".War. Detroit:Greenhaven Press, 2014, pp. 22–26.ISBN 978-0737769715.

Haass has appeared as himself on dozens of TV shows and documentaries since 1996.^[24] He has served as consultant onNBC News and hosted the online international affairs forum of theNew York Times.^[25]

Following the publication ofA World in Disarray in 2017, the book was adapted into a feature-length documentary byVICE for release the same year on July 21.^{[note 1]} Through interviews with Haass and other policymakers academics associated with the Council, the film explores the themes and concepts laid out in the book: the disorder in today’s international landscape, how it arose, and how it plays out in Syria, Ukraine, the South China Sea, and North Korea.^[26] In addition to providing commentary throughout the film, Haass served as a consulting producer.^[27][28]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRichard N. Haass.

• Richard HaassArchived 2015-07-01 at theWayback Machine —History Commons
• What to do with American Primacy
• State sovereignty must be altered in globalized era; An Article written by Richard Haass on the age of globalization.
• Council of Foreign Relations President ProfileArchived 2013-05-27 at theWayback Machine
• Appearances onC-SPAN
• Richard N. Haass onCharlie Rose
• Richard N. Haass atIMDb
• Richard N. Haass collected news and commentary atThe New York Times
• Works by Richard Haass atInternet Archive
• Works by Richard Haass atJSTOR

• 1951 births
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• Politics of Northern Ireland
• Presidential Citizens Medal recipients
• Presidents of the Council on Foreign Relations
• United States National Security Council staffers
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• Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class

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