Richard N. Haass

Early life and education

Haass was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, the son of Marcella (née Rosenthal) and Irving B. Haass. Haass graduated from Roslyn High School in 1969. His father was a securities analyst and partner at investment management firm David J. Greene & Co.

Career

Haass served at the Department of Defense from 1979 to 1980, and at the Department of State from 1981 to 1985. From 1989 to 1993, he was special assistant to President George H. W. Bush and National Security Council senior director for Near East and South Asian Affairs. In 1991, Haass received the Presidential Citizens Medal for helping to develop and explain U.S. policy during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.

Richard Haass worked for Secretary of State Colin 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.

Haass's other postings include vice president and director of foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution, the Sol M. Linowitz Visiting Professor of International Studies at Hamilton College, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a lecturer in public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Throughout the 2008 presidential campaign, Haass advised several members of both the Republican Party and Democratic Party on issues regarding foreign policy, but did not publicly endorse a candidate due to the Council on Foreign Relations' non-partisan stance.

In September 2013, Haass returned to Northern Ireland, with Professor Meghan O'Sullivan, to chair all party talks on flags, parades and the legacy of The Troubles, after violence flared over the removal of the union flag at Belfast City Hall. The talks broke down on December 31, 2013.

Haass joined the investment banking firm Centerview Partners as a senior counselor in 2023. He is a member of the Inter-American Dialogue.

Foreign policy views

In a May 2015 interview with BBC's HARDtalk, speaking as President of the Council 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 proliferation of nuclear arms and cyberterrorism, and several policy failures, which may bring about an "era of disorder" in the absence of any clear superpower.

On October 4, 2017, Haass called for U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to resign.

In December 2021, Haass criticized the Biden administration's withdrawal 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.”

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 minister Sergey Lavrov. 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.

Personal life

Haass lives in New York City with his wife, Susan Mercandetti; they have two children.

According to Axios, Haass is a member of Dialog, a secret society founded by Peter Thiel and Auren Hoffman.

Books

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

Books authored:

• The World: A Brief Introduction. Penguin Press, 2020. .
• A World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order. Penguin Press, 2017. .
• Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America's House in Order. Basic Books, 2014. .
• War of Necessity, War of Choice: A Memoir of Two Iraq Wars. Simon & Schuster, 2010. .
• Co-authored with Martin Indyk (2008). Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President. Brookings Institution Press. .
• The Opportunity. PublicAffairs, 2006. .
• Intervention: The Use of American Military Force in the Post-Cold War World. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999. .
• The Bureaucratic Entrepreneur: How to Be Effective in Any Unruly Organization. Brookings Institution Press, 1999. .
• Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy. Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1998. .
• The Reluctant Sheriff: The United States After the Cold War. Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1997. .
• The Power to Persuade. Houghton Mifflin, 1994. .
• Conflicts Unending: The United States and Regional Disputes. Yale University Press, 1990. .

Books edited

• Transatlantic Tensions: The United States, Europe, and Problem Countries. Brookings Institution Press, 1999. .
• Superpower Arms Control: Setting the Record Straight, edited with Albert Carnesale. Ballinger Publishing Company, 1987. .

Book contributions

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

Filmography

Haass has appeared as himself on dozens of TV shows and documentaries since 1996. He has served as consultant on NBC News and hosted the online international affairs forum of the New York Times.

Following the publication of A World in Disarray in 2017, the book was adapted into a feature-length documentary by VICE for release the same year on July 21. 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. In addition to providing commentary throughout the film, Haass served as a consulting producer.

Explanatory notes

References

References

1. (February 10, 2021). "I changed my registration to "no party affiliation" after 40 years. I worked for Reagan & Bush 41 & 43. But today's Rep Party no longer embraces the policies & principles that led me to join it. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, I didn't leave the Republican Party; the Party left me. / In response: I made this change some 6 months ago when I concluded Trumpism was less an aberration for the Rep party than its new abnormal. I didnt announce it b/c I considered the change to be a mostly private matter, but am doing so now given the enormity of recent events.".
2. "令和５年秋の外国人叙勲 受章者名簿". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
3. Crowley, Michael, [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/us/politics/richard-haass-council-foreign-relations.html "Richard Haass to step down as Council on Foreign Relations chief"], ''New York Times'', October 19, 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
4. "Council on Foreign Relations Announces Michael Froman Will Serve as New President".
5. (January 7, 2014). "Haass Talks". BBC News.
6. Haass, Richard N.. (1997). "The Reluctant Sheriff: The United States After the Cold War". Council on Foreign Relations Press.
7. (1999-11-09). "Paid Notice: Deaths HAASS, IRVING B.". [[The New York Times]].
8. (29 March 2017). "Richard Haass, Roslyn H.S. Graduate and president of Council on Foreign Relations, releases book". The Island Now.
9. (1990-11-18). "Richard Haass, Assistant to President, Weds Ms. Mercandetti, TV Producer". [[The New York Times]].
10. "Richard Haass: 'I Did Not Believe In The Iraq War'".
11. "Richard N. Haass biography". council on foreign relations.org.
12. "Richard N. Haass - Council on Foreign Relations".
13. Baker, Liana. (September 12, 2024). "Centerview Partners Hires Former Council of Foreign Relations Chief Haass". Bloomberg News.
14. (July 4, 2024). "How the investment world is trying to navigate geopolitics". Financial Times.
15. (4 May 2015). "President of the Council on Foreign Relations - Dr Richard Haass".
16. Manchester, Julia. (October 4, 2017). "Council on Foreign Relations president calls for Tillerson to resign".
17. Haass, Richard. (2021-12-03). "The Age of America First".
18. (2023-07-06). "Former U.S. officials have held secret Ukraine talks with Russians".
19. (2023-07-06). "Former U.S. officials have held secret Ukraine talks with Russians".
20. Published: November 18, 1990. (1990-11-18). "Richard Haass, Assistant to President, Weds Ms. Mercandetti, TV Producer - New York Times". [[The New York Times]].
21. Grove, Lloyd. (July 12, 2021). "The Reliable Source". The Washington Post.
22. Allen, Mike. (7 August 2025). "Scoop: Dialog, a secretive forum, plans D.C.-area campus". Axios.
23. Gordon, David. [https://archive.today/20201009114102/https://mises.org/library/reluctant-sheriff-united-states-after-cold-war-richard-haass "The Open Conspiracy".] Review of ''The Reluctant Sheriff: The United States After the Cold War'', by Richard Haass. ''[[The Mises Review]]'', Vol. 4, No. 2 Summer 1998. Archived from [https://mises.org/library/reluctant-sheriff-united-states-after-cold-war-richard-haass the original].
24. [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1467073/ "Richard Haass".] ''[[IMDb]]''.
25. [https://archive.today/20201004071432/https://www.brookings.edu/news-releases/international-affairs-scholar-richard-haass-named-to-direct-brookings-foreign-policy-studies-program/ "International Affairs Scholar Richard Haass Named to Direct Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Program"] (News Release). [[Brookings Institution]], July 1, 1996. Archived from [https://www.brookings.edu/news-releases/international-affairs-scholar-richard-haass-named-to-direct-brookings-foreign-policy-studies-program/ the original.]
26. Haass, Richard N. [https://www.cfr.org/AWID "VICE Special Report: A World in Disarray"] (Teaching Notes). ''[[Council on Foreign Relations]]'', November 1, 2017.
27. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7158540/ "VICE Special Report: A World in Disarray".] ''[[IMDb]]''.
28. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB5S7KQ0Gr0 "Ash Carter and Richard Haass Discuss VICE: A World in Disarray"] ([[YouTube]]). [[JuJu Chang]] presides at the [[Harold Pratt House]] in New York. [[Council on Foreign Relations]], July 25, 2017.