Who

A hugely influential foreign policy guru, Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Backstory

Politicized as a student during the Vietnam years, Haass toiled in the trenches at the State Department in the early '80s, then moved on to the world of wonkdom with posts at Brookings Institute (where he was director of Foreign Policy Studies), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He served on the National Security Council during the Bush Sr. administration before Colin Powell appointed him chief of the policy planning division at the State Department, a job that included planning for Afghanistan in the wake of post-Sept. 11th military action. He stepped down to take the Council on Foreign Relations post in mid-2003, following the departure of Les Gelb.

Of note

A relative dove, Haass has been outspoken about his view that military force isn't always the most effective diplomatic tool, and has warned publicly that, thanks to the war, America's ability to act unilaterally has been diminished. Generally an advocate of engaging world powers rather than standing in opposition to them, Haass drew flak for inviting notorious Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to meet with members of CFR in 2006. (Members of the CFR like Hank Greenberg and Mort Zuckerman threatened to resign over the invite, but later backed down.) Haass is a frequent sight on TV political chat shows, and also regularly weighs in with op-ed pieces and articles in scholarly journals like CFR's own Foreign Affairs.

Namedrop

Haass works closely with CFR's board, a group of two dozen including the likes of Pete Peterson, Bob Rubin, Henry Kravis, and Fareed Zakaria. The CFR's expansive membership roster, however, includes just about every big-name journalist, politico, and business mogul from here to Washington, including Dick Cheney, Barbara Walters, George Soros, Paul Krugman, Jack Welch—even Angelina Jolie. Want to join CFR yourself? You'll need to find an existing member to formally sponsor you, plus three other council members to submit letters of recommendation.

In print

The prolific Haass has published 11 tomes about foreign policy, including The Reluctant Sheriff: The United States After the Cold War, as well as a management book, The Power to Persuade; How to be Effective in Any Unruly Organization.

Trophy case

Haass was awarded a Presidential Citizens Medal for his work on Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm; the State Department presented him with the Distinguished Honor Award for his job as U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland.

Personal

Haass and his wife, book editor Susan Mercandetti, have two children and live on the Upper East Side.