“An invaluable friend and colleague — a calm head during crises, a voice of reason and experience during policy debates, and always a consistent advocate for the women and men of the State Department and USAID” -Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
James B. Steinberg served as the Deputy Secretary of State at the U.S. Department of State, functioning as the “go to” person in the Obama administration on all matters of diplomacy and foreign relations. He was a principal actor in East Asia policy, including extensive high level interaction with leaders in China, Japan and Korea, and has written and spoken extensively on these issues including to the Council on Foreign Relations.
In March 2011, Steinberg was named Dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University and assumed the position in July.
He was dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs from January 2006 to January 2009. Before joining the School, he was the vice president and director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. (2001-2005), where he supervised a wide-ranging research program on U.S. foreign policy. In addition Steinberg was a member of the Commission on National Security in the Information Age and a contributing writer to Protecting the Homeland, a book by a team of Brookings scholars that offered a four-tier plan to defend the U.S. from terrorist attacks.
Previously, Steinberg was Senior Advisor to the Markle Foundation, a non-profit organization seeking to realize the full potential of communications media and information technology to improve people’s lives. Steinberg held several senior positions in the Clinton Administration, including Deputy National Security Advisor to the President. His responsibilities covered the full range of issues in international economics and national security, including U.S.-Japan relations, U.S.-European political, economic and security issues, and the Middle East. He was one of the key architects of President Clinton’s policy toward China.
Before his appointment as Deputy National Security Advisor (1996), Steinberg served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. State Department and Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff. From 1993 to 1994 he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Analysis in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
Prior to joining the State Department, Steinberg spent four years as a senior analyst at RAND, a private non-profit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis. He also served as Senior Staff Advisor on foreign policy and national defense for Governor Dukakis’ bid for president; Senior Fellow for U.S. Strategic Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and as Senator Edward Kennedy’s principal aide for the Senate Armed Services Committee.
At the podium, Steinberg thoroughly engages audiences with his profound insight into East Asia policy. He examines the impact that broad changes in the global landscape have on business and the economy at home. Additionally he discusses new and innovative strategies for global governance, national security and public policy brought about by globalization and emerging technologies. He addresses the need for a partnership between the public and private sectors to tackle the complex public policy issues created by the Internet, including the appropriate limits of regulation, privacy and cyber security. His views on the wired world and its effect on national security, foreign policy and public interest are invaluable to everyone living in the information age.
Steinberg received his B.A. from Harvard, a J.D. degree from Yale Law School and is a member of the Washington D.C. Bar. A member of the board of directors of the Pacific Council on International Policy, the President’s Council on International Activities of Yale University and the International Advisory Board of the National Academics of Science, Steinberg is also the author of and contributor to many books on foreign policy and national security topics, as well as domestic policy.
