Bruce Riedel, Intelligence Expert on the Middle East and South Asia, Joins Brookings

Bruce Riedel, an expert on the Middle East and South Asia with 30 years of policy-making experience in regional diplomacy and counter-terrorism, joined the Brookings Institution as a Senior Fellow, Brookings President Strobe Talbott announced. Riedel will be affiliated with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy.

Riedel joins Brookings after a long career with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Council (NSC), the Department of State and the Department of Defense. His work at Brookings will focus on the progress of transition by examining effective diplomacy, conflict management, and counter terrorism tactics.

“The world is in a state of transition, perhaps now more than ever,” said Carlos Pascual, vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. “Few have more experience than Bruce in the study of defense and intelligence in the world arena, and we are very pleased to have him at Brookings.”

Riedel retired from the CIA in 2006. He has served the past three presidential administrations on the NSC, where he was a key figure during the India-Pakistan stand-off of 1999-2000. Between his White House stints, Riedel served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Near East and South Asian Affairs and as Principal Advisor to Secretaries of Defense William Perry and William Cohen on the Middle East and South Asia.

“I have dedicated my career to government and the intelligence field,” stated Riedel, “it is with great pride that I continue this path at an establishment such as Brookings.”

“Bruce is a strong addition to the Saban Center and we are eager to continue to generate innovative and effective research with him on staff,” said Martin Indyk, director of the Saban Center.

Bruce Riedel is the recipient of the 1997 Secretary of Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Intelligence Medal in 2001 along with the Department of State Meritorious Honor Award in 2006 for his work in the intelligence and defense community. He has a B.A. from Brown, a Masters in Diplomatic History from Harvard, and has studied at the Royal College of Defense Studies in London.

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