Robert Suettinger, Asia-Pacific Expert, Joins Brookings as Visiting Fellow

The Brookings Institution is pleased to announce that Robert L. Suettinger, an expert on U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific region, joined the Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Program as a visiting fellow on February 1. At Brookings, Suettinger will address the critical U.S.-China relationship, focusing on the development of U.S. policy after the violent crackdown in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.

“Bob Suettinger will significantly augment Brookings expertise on China at a moment when the subject is attracting more attention from both the scholars and policymakers,” said Michael Armacost, president of the Brookings Institution.

Suettinger retired at the end of 1998 from his position as national intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council (NIC). Among other intelligence community responsibilities, he oversaw the preparation of national intelligence estimates — classified interagency assessments of important long-range issues — for the director of the Central Intelligence Agency and key policymakers. His areas of specialty included China and the North Korean nuclear weapons program.

Suettinger previously served as director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council from March 1994 to October 1997, where he assisted National Security Advisers Lake and Berger in the development and implementation of U.S. policy toward the Asia-Pacific region.

He also served as deputy national intelligence officer for East Asia at the NIC from 1989 to 1994, and from 1987 to 1989 was the director of the office of analysis for East Asia and the Pacific for the Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

Suettinger completed his undergraduate education at Lawrence University and holds a master’s degree in comparative politics from Columbia University.