Experts

Eric Edelman

Practitioner Senior Fellow

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

Eliot and Eric discuss the Munich Security Conference including its background and history.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
Eric and Eliot try to parse the fire hose of news emanating from the Trump Administration. They discuss Eliot's Atlantic article on the American antecedents and causes of Trump's ascendancy and whether there is still some point in looking at the European autocrats like Viktor Orban on whom some Trumpists model themselves, as well as Ruy Texeira's article in the Free Press arguing that defending USAID is not the hill to die on for Democrats.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
Eric welcomes Eugene Finkel, the Kenneth H. Keller Professor of International Affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) to discuss his recent book, "Intent to Destroy: Russia's Two-Hundred Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine."
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
Eric and Eliot welcome Professor H.W. Brands, the Jack S. Blanton Chair in History at the University of Texas, Austin and the bestselling author of more than a dozen books on American history. They discuss his book, "America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War."
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
Eliot and Eric welcome Drew Lichtenberg and Deborah Payne, authors of Shakespeare in the Theatre: Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark
Eric and Eliot discuss the Biden team's failures on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, trade policy, and the broader decline of America's margin of deterrence.
Eric Edelman The Bulwark