Derek Chollet | The German Marshall Fund of the United States

http://www.gmfus.org/profiles/derek-chollet

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STAFF
EXPERT

Derek Chollet
Counselor and Senior Advisor for Security and Defense
Policy
Washington, DC
Expertise:Policy, Security and Defense, NATO, Syria, Turkey,
Russia, Terrorism, U.S. National Security Policy, Global Defense
Strategy, Transatlantic Defense Cooperation
Related Topics:NATO,Security and Defense,NATO
Summit,Congressional Testimony,U.S. Elections

Derek Chollet is counselor and senior advisor for security and defense policy at The German Marshall Fund
of the United States, and author of the book, The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and
Redefined Americas Role in the World (PublicAffairs, June 2016). He is a regular contributor to Defense
One, and is also an advisor to Beacon Global Strategies and an Adjunct Senior Research Scholar at
Columbia Universitys Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies.
From 2012-2015, Mr. Chollet was the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs,
where he managed U.S. defense policy toward Europe (including NATO), the Middle East, Africa, and the
Western Hemisphere. In that role, he was a senior advisor to two secretaries of defense, Leon Panetta and
Chuck Hagel.
Prior to joining the Pentagon, Mr. Chollet served at The White House as special assistant to the president

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Derek Chollet | The German Marshall Fund of the United States

and senior director for strategic planning on the National Security Council Staff. From 2009 to 2011, he was
the Principal Deputy Director of Secretary of State Hillary Clintons Policy Planning staff. From November
2008 to January 2009, he was a member of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team.
During the Clinton administration, Mr. Chollet served as chief speechwriter for UN Ambassador Richard
Holbrooke, and as special adviser to Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott. From 2002 to 2004, Chollet
was foreign policy adviser to U.S. Senator John Edwards (D-NC), both on his legislative staff and during the
2004 Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign.
Mr. Chollet has been a fellow at The Center for a New American Security (CNAS), the Brookings Institution,
the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and the American Academy in Berlin. He has been
a visiting scholar and adjunct professor at The George Washington University and an adjunct associate
professor at Georgetown University. He also assisted former Secretaries of State James A. Baker III and
Warren Christopher with the research and writing of their memoirs.
Mr. Chollet is author, co-author or co-editor of six other books on U.S. foreign policy, including The Road to
the Dayton Accords: A Study of American Statecraft (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), America Between the
Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11, co-authored with James Goldgeier (PublicAffairs, 2008), and The Unquiet
American: Richard Holbrooke in the World, co-edited with Samantha Power (PublicAffairs, 2011), and his
commentaries and reviews on U.S. foreign policy and politics have appeared in many other books and
publications.
He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for
Distinguished Public Service, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, the U.S.
State Department Superior Honor Award, the Latvia Minister of Defense Medal of Honorary Recognition,
and the Lithuania Minister of Defense Medal of Merit.

Press Queries
Kelsey Glover, Public Relations Manager
+1 202 683 2648
kglover@gmfus.org

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Derek Chollet | The German Marshall Fund of the United States

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FEATURED WORK

IN THE NEWS

IN THE NEWS

IN THE NEWS

One Presidents Stand

Agains the Washington
Herd

The Myth of American

Disengagement

Whats Wrong with

Obamas National
Security Council?

Mar 10, 2016 | By Derek

Chollet

May 20, 2016 | By Derek

Chollet

Apr 26, 2016 | By Derek

Chollet

FEATURED EVENT
JUL

14

A Transatlantic Talk with Derek Chollet on the Future of Euroatlantic

Security
July 14, 2014
Washington, DC

MOST RECENT CONTENT

IN THE NEWS

Assad Mus Go, But Regime Change is Not the

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Derek Chollet | The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Answer
Sep 29, 2016 | By Derek Chollet

IN THE NEWS

Think of Obama as a Foreign-Policy Version of

Warren Bufett
Aug 4, 2016 | By Derek Chollet

IN THE NEWS

How Obama's Foreign Policy 'Long Game' Works

Jul 29, 2016 | By Derek Chollet

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Derek Chollet | The German Marshall Fund of the United States

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