Richard H. Solomon has joined the RAND Corporation as a senior fellow. An experienced diplomat, policy analyst, author and respected leader on international affairs, Solomon most recently was the president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan, congressionally established organization focused on international conflict management.
At RAND, Solomon will direct a project exploring possibilities for development of a “grand strategy” to guide American defense and foreign policy in the 21st century. He will be based in RAND's Washington, D.C., office.
“Since the end of the Cold War, and with 9/11, economic globalization and political turmoil abroad, the world presents the United States with a challenging range of new threats and opportunities,” Solomon said. “RAND, from its earliest days, has been a major contributor to policy development on matters of natural security and foreign relations. I look forward to working with a new generation of colleagues.”
Solomon worked previously at RAND, heading the organization's Political Science Department for a decade during the 1970s and 1980s.
He subsequently served as the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 1989 to 1992, when he negotiated the Cambodia peace agreement. In this role, he also contributed to the dialogue on nuclear issues between the United States and South and North Korea, helped establish the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation initiative and led U.S. negotiations with Japan, Mongolia and Vietnam on important bilateral matters.
Solomon also served as U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, director of policy planning at the State Department and was a senior staff member of the National Security Council during the 1970s, where he participated in the normalization of relations with China.
Solomon has received numerous awards for his policy initiatives, including the American Political Science Association's Hubert H. Humphrey Award for “notable public service by a political scientist” and the State Department's Foreign Affairs Award for Public Service. Solomon holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has published eight books on a range of topics related to international affairs.