Kenneth Lieberthal Joins Brookings as Visiting Fellow

Kenneth Lieberthal, a former high-ranking official on the staff of the National Security Council (NSC), has joined the Brookings Institution as a visiting fellow in Foreign Policy Studies.

Lieberthal, who was most recently special assistant to the president and senior director for Asian affairs at the NSC, is on leave from the University of Michigan, where he is a professor of political science and the William Davidson Professor of Business Administration. He is also a research associate at the Center for Chinese Studies, a faculty associate of the Center for Russian and East European Studies, and a faculty associate of the William Davidson Institute, which focuses on issues affecting firms in transition economies.

Before joining the government, Lieberthal was a prolific writer and editor of books and articles focusing primarily on China. His most recent books include: Governing China: From Revolution Through Reform (W.W. Norton, 1995), Bureaucracy, Politics and Decision Making in Post-Mao China (U.C. Berkeley Press, 1991), and Policy Making in China: Leaders, Structures, and Processes (Princeton University Press, 1988), which he co-authored with Michel Oksenberg.

Lieberthal has also written dozens of articles and has served on several editorial boards, including The China Quarterly, the China Economic Review, and the Journal of Asian Business. His most recent pieces have appeared in The China Business Review and the Harvard Business Review.

“We are very pleased to have Kenneth Lieberthal join us. His expertise on Asian affairs will add breadth and depth to our Foreign Policy Studies program,” said Michael H. Armacost, president of the Brookings Institution.

Lieberthal will be at Brookings until mid-December.