David F. Gordon is Head of Research at
Eurasia Group, the
political risk consultancy. He was previously the
U.S. State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
's
Director of Policy Planning, where he held a rank equivalent to a
United States Assistant Secretary of State.
Life and career
Gordon, a 1971 graduate of
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...
, who received a ''philosophiae doctor'' in political science and economics from the
University of Michigan in 1981, began teaching at the University of Michigan and
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
in the 1980s. He has also taught at the
College of William & Mary,
Princeton University,
Georgetown University, and the
University of Nairobi.
Before being appointed
Director of Policy Planning, he served as the Director of
CIA’s Office of Transnational Issues (OTI), an office that covers a broad range of national security and foreign policy issues, and as Vice Chairman and National Intelligence Officer for Economic and Global Issues on the
National Intelligence Council. He is a member of the Senior Intelligence Service of the United States.
Dr. Gordon’s background includes service as a Senior Fellow and Director at the Overseas Development Council, a senior staff member on the
Foreign Affairs Committee of the
U.S. House of Representatives, and as the regional economic policy and democracy/governance advisor for the
U.S. Agency for International Development based in Nairobi, Kenya. He was the State Department's 24th Director of Policy Planning, where he was in charge of the department's internal think tank, the
Policy Planning Staff.
In January 2009, Dr. Gordon became Head of Research at
Eurasia Group, the global political risk consulting firm. He is based in
Washington DC.
His latest book, ''Managing Strategic Surprise: Lessons from Risk Management & Risk Assessment'', co-edited with
Ian Bremmer and
Paul Bracken, was published in 2008 by Cambridge University Press.
In 2020, Gordon, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."
Books
*''Managing Strategic Surprise: Lessons from Risk Management & Risk Assessment'', (edited with
Paul Bracken and
Ian Bremmer). (Cambridge University Press, 2008)
* ''The United States and Africa: A Post-Cold War Perspective'', (with David C. Miller,
Howard Wolpe and the American Assembly). (W. W. Norton & Company, 1998)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, David F.
Directors of Policy Planning
Bowdoin College alumni
University of Michigan alumni
College of William & Mary faculty
Princeton University faculty
Georgetown University faculty
Living people
University of Michigan faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)