Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski to Chair RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy Advisory Board

Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter and the principal architect of the Camp David Accords that resulted in the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement in 1978, has been appointed chairman of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy Advisory Board, RAND President and CEO James A. Thomson announced today.

“Zbig's experience as one of the world's leading foreign policy thinkers, as well as his extensive knowledge of the key issues facing the Middle East, will help the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy as it works to seek solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing the region,” Thomson said. “I am honored to have him leading this board and look forward to working with him.”

The RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy focuses on research projects and programs that advance peace, promote mutual understanding and promote political, social, and economic development in the region. The center produced a three-volume study titled “Helping a Palestinian State Succeed” in April, and is working with the Palestinian Authority to assist it in implementing the report's recommendations.

“RAND has done some truly innovative work on how to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace and I am happy to pitch in,” Brzezinski said.

“We're fortunate to have Dr. Brzezinski on board as chairman of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy,” said David Aaron, the center's director. “He will be a strong and worthy successor to Frank Carlucci.” Former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci will continue serving on the advisory board as vice chairman.

Brzezinski is currently a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Robert E. Osgood Professor of American Foreign Policy at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C

Brzezinski's contributions to U.S. security policy span both government and academic sectors. In addition to serving as national security advisor from 1977 to 1981, Brzezinski was a member of the National Security Council Defense Department Commission on Integrated Long-Term Strategy from 1987 to 1988 and was a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under President George H.W. Bush from 1987 to 1989. He also served as co-chair of President Bush's National Security Advisory Task Force in 1988.

Author of more than eight books, Brzezinski most recently published “The Choice: Global Domination or Global Leadership.” He is a past member of the Board of Directors of Amnesty International, The Atlantic Council, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2004, he served as co-chair of the Council on Foreign Relations-sponsored independent task force titled “Iran: Time for a New Approach.”