Experts

Eric Edelman

Practitioner Senior Fellow

Fast Facts

  • Career minister in the U.S. Foreign Service
  • Undersecretary of defense for policy in the George W. Bush Administration
  • Ambassador to Finland and Turkey
  • Recipient of Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service
  • Expertise on defense policy, nuclear policy and proliferation, diplomacy

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • American Defense and Security
  • War and Terrorism

Eric Edelman, practitioner senior fellow, retired as a career minister from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2009, after having served in senior positions at the Departments of State and Defense as well as the White House. As the undersecretary of defense for policy (2005-2009), he oversaw strategy development as the Defense Department’s senior policy official with global responsibility for bilateral defense relations, war plans, special operations forces, homeland defense, missile defense, nuclear weapons and arms control policies, counter-proliferation, counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, arms sales, and defense trade controls. Edelman served as U.S. ambassador to the Republics of Finland and Turkey in the Clinton and George W. Bush Administrations and was principal deputy assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney for national security affairs. Edelman has been awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, and several Department of State Superior Honor Awards. In January of 2011 he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur by the French government. In 2016, he served as the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center.

Eric Edelman News Feed

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How to Practice Productive Statecraft
Eric welcomes Dennis Ross, Counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. They discuss why Dennis chose to update his 2005 book "Statecraft," his choice of case studies including German Reunification, the First Gulf War, Bosnia, the Iraq War, and the Syria policy debacle under President Obama. He describes the contending schools of thought about America's role in the world, including America First, Restrainers, Realists, and Liberal Internationalists and their differences over the use of force, alliances, as well as the role of interests and values in American foreign policy. He outlines the habits of good statecraft, including proper assessments, use of leverage and coercion, presidential leadership, and empowering lower level officials while avoiding groupthink.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
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The Coldest Cold Warrior
It’s a puzzle that there have been so many biographies of Brzezinski’s predecessor as national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, but so few of Brzezinski.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
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Conversation with Eric Edelman
What have we learned about Trump’s Middle East policy from his recent trip in the region? Eric Edelman shares his perspective.
Eric Edelman Conversations with Bill Kristol
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The Republican Who Actually Understood Russia
Eric hosts "Financial Times" Washington commentator Edward Luce. They discuss Zbig's historical significance, why there have been more biographies of Henry Kissinger than Brzezinski and whether or not he was, in the long pull of history, more consequential than Kissinger. They also consider whether Brzezinski was a better National Security Adviser than Carter was a President.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
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FEMA Prepares for Disasters Worse Than Hurricanes
FEMA ensures that the federal government can operate after a nuclear blast or other catastrophe, argues Eric Edelman.
Eric Edelman The Wall Street Journal
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America Is TORCHING Its Credibility
Eliot and Eric welcome Larry Summers, former President of Harvard University and former Secretary of Treasury in the Clinton Administration. They discuss why his prescient advice about the dangers of inflation were ignored by the Biden Administration and whether or not Democrats have learned the lesson that inflation affects all Americans with corrosive political effects.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark