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

Miller center headline
'The Ecology of Nations'
Constitutional self-government and authoritarianism are in a worldwide contest—and it is not going well for democracy. Miller Center Faculty Senior Fellow and Taylor Professor of Politics John M. Owen IV engages with experts to discuss open liberal internationalism and what comes next for "The Ecology of Nations," the title of his latest book.
Aynne Kokas, John Owen, Kristen Eichensehr, Eric Edelman Miller Center Presents
Bulwark headline
Is America about to abandon Ukraine?
Eric welcomes former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor to Shield of the Republic. They discuss the state of play on the supplemental aid legislation, the causes for the Ukrainian Counter Offensive’s “failure” this summer, the search for a new strategy, General Zaluzhny’s ideas about the changing character of warfare, the stresses and strains of domestic Ukrainian politics, the prospects for negotiations, the consequences of failure to get the assistance money and Plan B if the effort on the Hill fails.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
the bulwark headline
Understanding Hamas with Jonathan Schanzer
Eric welcomes Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies to discuss the war in Gaza. Jonathan Schanzer was a terrorism finance analyst at the Treasury Department and holds a BA from Emory University, a Masters degree from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a Doctorate from Kings College London and studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
the hill headline“It is crucial Congress pass the supplemental military funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan — not for charity, but for cleared-eyed American self-interest,”
Solving our strategic math problem with America’s five major adversaries
“It is crucial Congress pass the supplemental military funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan — not for charity, but for cleared-eyed American self-interest."
Eric Edelman The Hill
The bulwark headline
National Security with Secretary Gates
Eric and Eliot welcome former Secretary of Defense and former CIA Director Robert M. Gates to discuss his article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, “The Dysfunctional Superpower: Can a Divided America Deter China and Russia.”
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
The bulwark headline
A French Perspective
Eric and Eliot host Bruno Tertrais, the Deputy Director of France’s Fondation Pour La Recherche Strategique. They discuss historical analogies that shed light on the current geopolitical moment.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark