Jamie Metzl

2011

Jamie Metzl is an Asia expert and Executive Vice President of the international NGO Asia Society. He is responsible for overseeing the institution’s strategic directions and overall program activities across its network of eleven centers in Asia and the United States. Among other Asia Society initiatives, he created and leads the 500-person Asia 21 Young Leaders Network, which brings together the most dynamic young leaders from every country in the Asia-Pacific region to develop and implement collaborative responses to shared regional challenges.

He has served as Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee under Senator Joe Biden, Senior Coordinator for International Public Information at the Department of State, and Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs on the White House National Security Council. At the Clinton White House, he created and led the International Public Information initiative and coordinated U.S. government international public information campaigns for Iraq, Kosovo, and other crises. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District in Kansas City. From 1991 to 1993 he was a Human Rights Officer for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) where he helped establish a nation-wide human rights investigation and monitoring unit for Cambodia.

Jamie is a founder and Co-Chairman of the Board of the bipartisan national security NGO Partnership for a Secure America which brings together Democratic and Republican national security leaders – including former National Security Advisors, Secretaries of State, Congresspeople, and others – to develop and advocate for progressive bipartisan solutions to the nation’s greatest national security challenges.

Jamie appears regularly on CNN, BBC, ABC, and other national and international media. He is the author of two books, including the novel The Depths of the Sea, and his writing on such diverse topics as Asian and international affairs, human rights, genetic engineering, and virtual reality has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and many other publications. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and directed the 2003 Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Emergency Preparedness, which issued the most publicized report in CFR history and directly influenced ensuing legislation.

A former White House Fellow and Aspen Institute Crown Fellow, Jamie holds a Ph.D. in Southeast Asian history from Oxford University, a JD from Harvard Law School, and is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University. He serves on the boards of Park University and the Jewish refugee agency HIAS, and has completed six ironman triathlons and 22 marathons.

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