Experts

Eric Edelman

Practitioner Senior Fellow

Fast Facts

  • Career minister in the U.S. Foreign Service
  • Undersecretary of defense for policy in the George W. Bush Administration
  • Ambassador to Finland and Turkey
  • Recipient of Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service
  • Expertise on defense policy, nuclear policy and proliferation, diplomacy

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • American Defense and Security
  • War and Terrorism

Eric Edelman, practitioner senior fellow, retired as a career minister from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2009, after having served in senior positions at the Departments of State and Defense as well as the White House. As the undersecretary of defense for policy (2005-2009), he oversaw strategy development as the Defense Department’s senior policy official with global responsibility for bilateral defense relations, war plans, special operations forces, homeland defense, missile defense, nuclear weapons and arms control policies, counter-proliferation, counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, arms sales, and defense trade controls. Edelman served as U.S. ambassador to the Republics of Finland and Turkey in the Clinton and George W. Bush Administrations and was principal deputy assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney for national security affairs. Edelman has been awarded the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, and several Department of State Superior Honor Awards. In January of 2011 he was awarded the Legion d’Honneur by the French government. In 2016, he served as the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center.

Eric Edelman News Feed

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Can Taiwan Trust the United States?
Eric welcomes Michael Hunzeker, associate director of the Center for Security Policy Studies at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, to discuss his new book, "America’s Taiwan Dilemma," co-authored with Mark Christopher. They explore why a nation’s reputation for credibility matters for deterrence and alliance management, and whether U.S. treaty allies in East Asia truly want Washington to defend Taiwan at all costs. The conversation also examines Taiwan’s globally essential semiconductor industry, the fate of Hong Kong following its integration into China, and how the Trump Administration is reshaping America’s East Asian system of bilateral alliances.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
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The MAGA Clown Car Reshaping America on Their Terms
Eric and Eliot pay their respects to the late Vice President Dick Cheney before welcoming their guest Laura Field to discuss her book, "Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right." They explore the origins of the effort to create an intellectual ecosystem for Trumpism, as well as the emergence of post-liberalism and techno-monarchists. Finally, they touch on the openly theocratic efforts of Christian nationalists to fit into the Trumpist universe, and the overlaps and contradictions among these various Trumpist movements.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
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Dick Cheney: Statesman, Patriot, Principled Conservative
"History will judge in due time his role in the post-9/11 global war on terror and, in particular, the military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Much of the current conventional wisdom on those subjects seems to me divorced from the urgency of the moment after the horrific attacks on New York and Washington a quarter of a century ago and tinged with partisan rancor and lack of appreciation for what French historians call la longue durée (the long run). What is incontestable is that al-Qaeda, despite its determination to strike the homeland again and again, has been unable to replicate the disastrous mass-casualty attacks it launched in 2001, which resulted in the greatest single-day loss of life on American soil since Pearl Harbor. Many deserve credit for that, but chief among them is Dick Cheney."
Eric Edelman The Dispatch
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President Trump Deserves Better Advice
Sadly, whoever provided the President with the background information for each of his statements is manifestly unaware of the easily ascertainable facts, and so the President is being extremely poorly served by his own staff.
Eric Edelman RealClearDefense
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Trump’s Next Defense Strategy Risks Leaving the U.S. Underprepared
We have grave concerns that the Trump administration’s new NDS will ignore significant threats to U.S. security.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
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J.D. Vance, Tucker Carlson, and the Right’s Shift to Open Antisemitism
Eric and Eliot discuss the GOP’s ongoing Nazi problem and the growing danger of anti-Semitism on the right. They debunk President Trump’s false claims about America’s nuclear arsenal, then pivot to a conversation about alliance management. Eliot shares insights from a recent trip to Canada, highlighting the damage Trump has done to America’s relationship with its northern neighbor. They broaden the discussion to other allies, including the “special relationship” with the UK and the often-prickly partnership with France.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark