Stephen Rockwell Sestanovich (born June 8, 1950) is an American government official, academic, and author. He is the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Professor at the

School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the List of schools of international relations in the United States, international affairs and public policy school, public policy school of Columbia University, a pri ...

where he is the Director of the International Fellows Program. His areas of expertise include Russia and the former Soviet Union, the Caucasus and Central Asia, and U.S. foreign policy.Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs
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Early life and education

Sestanovich was born in 1950. He has a brother, Ben, and had a sister, Mary (1952–2000). Their father, Stipe "Steve" Sestanovich (1912–2014), was a journalist and Foreign Service officer born in Lumbarda on the island of Korčula,

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(now Croatia) to parents Cvita (''née'' Lipanović) and Roko Šestanović. Roko left Korčula right before the start of World War I, and only in 1920 did the family reunite in the United States. Their mother, Molly Brown Sestanovich (1921–2014), was a journalist. Sestanovich holds a B.A. from Cornell University (1972) and a Ph.D. in government from Harvard University (1978).

Career

Sestanovich has held several government positions since 1980, including senior legislative assistant to U.S. Senator

Daniel Patrick Moynihan Daniel Patrick Moynihan (March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented New York in the United States Senate from 1977 until 2001 and served as an ...

(1980–81), policy planner for the U.S. Department of State during the Reagan Administration (1981–84), and senior director for policy development at the U.S.

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...

(1984–87). He served as ambassador-at-large and special adviser to the secretary of state for the new independent states of the former Soviet Union under U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (1997–2001). In addition to his teaching duties, Sestanovich is the George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies at the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

.Council on Foreign Relations
/ref>

Personal life

Sestanovich married Ann Hulbert in 1982. They have a son, Ben, who played baseball at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and now serves as an Assistant General Manager for the Atlanta Braves, and a daughter, Clare, a novelist and short-story writer.

Works

* ''Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama'',

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, 2014,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sestanovich, Stephen Living people 1950 births Columbia University faculty Columbia School of International and Public Affairs faculty Harvard University alumni Cornell University alumni American international relations scholars American people of Croatian descent United States Ambassadors-at-Large