CNAPS Director Richard Bush Awarded Armacost Chair in Foreign Policy Studies

Richard Bush, senior fellow and director of the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies (CNAPS) at the Brookings Institution, has been awarded the Michael H. Armacost Chair in Foreign Policy Studies.

Funding from the chair will support Bush’s work as CNAPS director as well as his research projects. The first of these will focus on relations between China and Taiwan.

“Richard Bush’s expertise on Asia—from both a scholarly and a policymaking standpoint—makes him an excellent first recipient of this chair,” said James B. Steinberg, vice president and director of the Brookings Foreign Policy Studies program. “The support from the chair will enhance CNAPS’ ability to continue its first-rate work on U.S. relations with Northeast Asia, as well as allow Richard to pursue his important research on the region.”

As director of CNAPS, Bush brings together visiting fellows from Northeast Asia who spend ten months conducting individual and collaborative research and interacting with the U.S. policymaking community. CNAPS also sponsors a variety of events to foster public discussion of the key Northeast Asia issues facing U.S. policymakers.

The Armacost Chair was established by the Brookings Institution to honor its former president, Michael H. Armacost, who served for seven years before retiring earlier this year. The chair was established to fund the research of a highly talented scholar in the Foreign Policy Studies program at Brookings, with an emphasis on Asia. Armacost served as U.S. ambassador to Japan and the Philippines and undersecretary of State for political affairs before he assumed the Brookings presidency.

“Brookings is lucky to have someone of Richard’s stature, experience, and energy, and it’s fitting that he should be the first holder of the Armacost Chair,” said Brookings President Strobe Talbott. “The generosity of our donors who established the chair in Mike Armacost’s honor has strengthened CNAPS and made it possible for Richard to expand his own research activities.”

Before coming to Brookings, Richard Bush was chairman and managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), based in Washington, D.C. AIT is the organization through which the United States conducts its unofficial relations with Taiwan. Prior to joining AIT, Bush served as National Intelligence Officer for East Asia on the National Intelligence Council, where he coordinated analysis of East Asia issues within the intelligence community. Prior to that, he worked for twelve years on the staff of the House International Relations Committee. He also writes and lectures extensively on Asian politics and policy.