James Steinberg - Biography

James Braidy "Jim" Steinberg (born July 5, 1953) is an American academic and political advisor, and former Deputy Secretary of State. He is currently Dean and Professor of Social Science, International Affairs, and Law at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Biography

Early career

He was educated at Phillips Academy (1970), Harvard College (1973), and Yale Law School (1978). His previous positions included a senior fellowship for US Strategic Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, UK (1985–1987), and senior analyst at RAND Corporation (1989–1993).

Carter campaign

During the national elections which brought US President Jimmy Carter into office, Steinberg worked on the presidential campaign of the Carter-Mondale ticket.

Clinton administration

Steinberg served as US State Department Director of Policy Planning (1994–1996), then Deputy National Security Advisor (December 1996–2001) to US President Bill Clinton. He also served on the Project on National Security Reform's Guiding Coalition.

Brookings Institution Director and Lyndon B. Johnson School Dean

After serving in the Clinton administration, Steinberg was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. and the Institution's vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies (2001–2005). Steinberg was then Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin (2006–2009) until appointed US Deputy Secretary of State on January 28, 2009, taking a leave of absence from the School for the duration of his term in office.

Obama administration

According to the Wall Street Journal, Steinberg, along with Daniel Kurtzer and Dennis Ross, were among the principal authors of Barack Obama’s address on the Middle East to AIPAC in June 2008, which was viewed as the Democratic Party nominee’s most expansive on international affairs.

He was mentioned as being "at the top" of Obama's list of candidates for the post of National Security Advisor, but Andrea Mitchell reported on November 24, 2008 that Obama would appoint Steinberg Deputy Secretary of State. On December 23, 2008, Steinberg himself confirmed the appointment in a letter addressed to students and faculty at the Johnson school.

As Deputy Secretary of State and principal Deputy to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Steinberg notably coined the phrase "strategic reassurance" to describe U.S.-China relations suggestive of the idea that the United States should reassure China about welcoming China's rise while China would reassure the US and its neighbors that it would not conflict with their interests.

Maxwell School Deanship

In March 2011, Steinberg was named Dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. On July 28, 2011, he resigned as Deputy Secretary of State and assumed his new position.

External links

• James B. Steinberg at US State Department
• Research and commentary at the Brookings Institution
• James Steinberg collected news and commentary at Fox News
• Preventive war, a useful tool (by James Steinberg/Ivo Daalder). December 4, 2005
• Policy Challenges and Opportunities for the United States in Asia (Keynote address from 2010 Asia Policy Assembly, June 17, 2010)