Richard Sokolsky Joins Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Program

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is pleased to announce that Richard Sokolsky has joined its Russia and Eurasia Program as a senior associate. Sokolsky will focus on U.S. policy toward Russia in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

Prior to joining Carnegie, Sokolsky was a member of the U.S. Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Office from 2005 to 2015. In this role, he prepared analyses and policy recommendations for the Secretary of State on a broad range of foreign policy issues including U.S. policy on the Middle East and South Asia, nuclear weapons and nonproliferation, conflict prevention and post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction, and foreign assistance.

“I am proud to welcome Richard Sokolsky to our team,” said Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Program Director Eugene Rumer. “His extensive experience in a wide range of foreign policy areas will be a huge asset to our program as we continue to expand our top-quality research and policy analysis of the critical issues facing Russia and Eurasia, especially the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.”

“I am thrilled to be at Carnegie and look forward to working closely with my colleagues in the Russia and Eurasia Program,” Sokolsky said. “Although I plan to devote most of my time to U.S. policy toward Russia, I hope to expand my intellectual horizons by working with colleagues in other programs.”

Sokolsky is a 36-year veteran of the State Department and became a member of the career Senior Executive Service in 1991. He served at State in several senior positions including director of the offices of Strategic Policy and Negotiations, Policy Analysis, and Defense Relations and Security Assistance in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. In addition to his government service, he has been a visiting senior fellow at the RAND Corporation and at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University.

Sokolsky graduated from Vanderbilt University and earned his master’s degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He has authored or edited four books, including The United States and the Persian Gulf: Reshaping Security Strategy for the Post-Containment Era and NATO and Caspian Security: A Mission Too Far. His articles have appeared in Survival, the Washington Quarterly, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other major newspapers. He has also been the recipient of six Department of State Superior Honor Awards.