February 22,
2001
Dr. Kurt M. Campbell, Former Deputy Secretary of
Defense for Asia and the Pacific, Senior Vice
President and Director of International Security,
Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Dr. Kurt M. Campbell joined CSIS as
Senior Vice President in May 2000. In this capacity,
he is responsible for helping develop the foreign
policy and security agenda of the Center into the 21st
century. He is also a contributing writer to The New
York Times and a Senior Advisor to iDefense, an
internet security firm. Previously he served for five
years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Asia and the Pacific, the senior most Pentagon
official with daily responsibility for US security
policy in the Asia-Pacific region. During his tenure,
Dr. Campbell worked to develop the framework for the
US-Japan security initiative, deeper ties with Korea,
military dialogue with the Chinese PLA, more security
interaction with ASEAN as a whole, and renewed
military contacts with Vietnam. Before coming to the
Pentagon, he served as Director in the Democracy
office at the National Security Council, Deputy
Special Counselor to the President for NAFTA, and
Chief of Staff (International) and White House Fellow
at the Treasury Department. For his work in
government, Dr. Campbell has received numerous awards,
including the Distinguished Public Service Medal from
Secretary Cohen, Medal for Outstanding Public Service
from Secretary Perry, Department of State Honor Award,
Joint Service Commendation Medal and Korea’s Order of
National Security Medal.
Dr. Campbell was Associate Professor
of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University between 1988 and
1993. He was also the Assistant Director of the Center
for Science and International Affairs and a Director
of the South Africa Project at Harvard University. He
was an International Affairs Fellow and is now a
Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a stringer
for the New York Times Magazine in Southern Africa, an
Olin Fellow at the Russian Research Center, a Fellow
at the International Institute for Strategic Studies
in London, a lecturer in International Relations at
Brown University, a consultant to the Rockefeller
Foundation, a Distinguished Marshall Scholar, and a
member of St. Cross College.
He received his B.A. in political
science (minors in Physics and Music) from the
University of California, San Diego, a Certificate in
music (violin) and political philosophy from the
University of Erevan in Soviet Armenia, and his
Doctorate in International Relations from Brasenose
College at Oxford University. He rowed and played
rugby for Brasenose College and received his Varsity
"Blue" in tennis for representing Oxford in the
Cambridge match.
Dr. Campbell was formerly a Special
Assistant on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and has served
as a reserve naval officer in a special Chief of Naval
Operations advisory unit in the Pentagon. He has also
testified on numerous occasions in front of both
Houses of Congress. Campbell is currently writing a
book on his experiences in Asia entitled The Power of
Balance. He is the author of two books, numerous
scholarly articles, and many newspaper, magazine, and
opinion pieces on a wide range of international
subjects. In his spare time, Campbell enjoys fly
fishing, scuba diving, and gardening. He is married to
Lael Brainard and they have a daughter, Caelan.
Together they maintain Iron Bell Run farm in Little
Washington, Rappahannock County, Virginia.
