Meghan L. O'Sullivan (R) (born September 13, 1969) is a former deputy national security adviser on Iraq and Afghanistan. She is Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at
Harvard Kennedy School
The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
and a board member of the
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Kennedy School. She is a member of the board of directors of the
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...
, and
Raytheon
Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...
, and the North American chair of the
Trilateral Commission.
Early life and education
O'Sullivan grew up in
Lexington, Massachusetts
Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by ...
.
She received her bachelor's degree from
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
in 1991.
O'Sullivan later received her master's degree in economics and her D.Phil. in politics from
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...
.
Her doctoral dissertation was about the
Sri Lankan Civil War.
Career
O'Sullivan was an aide to Sen.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (; March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and social scientist. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he represented New York (state), New York in the ...
, and between 1998 and 2001 a fellow at the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...
under
Richard N. Haass.
Between November 2001 and March 2003, O'Sullivan served in the
Office of Policy Planning at the
State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the 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 o ...
, where she assisted
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...
in developing the
smart sanctions policy proposal.
Following the
2003 invasion of Iraq, she volunteered for the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance under
Jay Garner. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Jay Garner that he could not keep her (or
Tom Warrick) on in Iraq, though Rumsfeld later relented. She was an assistant to
Paul Bremer
Lewis Paul Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is a retired American diplomat. He was the second ''de facto'' head of state of Iraq as leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United State ...
in the
Coalition Provisional Authority
The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...
. Starting July 2004, she was Senior Director for Iraq and Afghanistan at the
United States National Security Council
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and Foreign relations of the United States, foreign policy matter ...
. O'Sullivan's last position at the White House was as the Special
Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan from October 2005 to September 2007 where she frequently communicated via telephone with Fort Leavenworth's General
David Petraeus on a new military strategy for Iraq.
During her time in Iraq, O'Sullivan was involved with many key decisions on the political front, including helping to negotiate the early transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis and assisting the Iraqis in writing their interim constitution. She is remembered for driving herself around Baghdad to meet with Iraqis, and endured some harrowing experiences while in Iraq, including escaping from a terrorist attack by scaling a building ledge ten stories up.
On May 31, 2007, President Bush announced that O'Sullivan was returning to Baghdad: With
Stephen Hadley, she is also credited as being one of the original advocates in the White House of the 2007 "surge" strategy. On September 15, 2007, she left the White House and began teaching at Harvard.
She was an advisor to
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...
during
his 2012 presidential campaign. In 2013, O'Sullivan was a signatory to an ''
amicus curiae
An amicus curiae (; ) is an individual or organization that is not a Party (law), party to a legal case, but that is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. Wheth ...
'' brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the
Hollingsworth v. Perry
''Hollingsworth v. Perry'' was a series of United States federal court cases that reinstated same-sex marriage in the state of California. The case began in 2009 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which found that ...
case. During 2013, she acted as Vice-Chair to
Richard Haass at talks between the political parties in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
.
O'Sullivan is also a One Young World Counsellor, speaking abou
"Peace & Conflict Resolutionto a group of 1,300 young people in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
in 2013. O'Sullivan is currently the Chairwoman of the North American branch of the Rockefeller Trilateral Commission.
Controversy
Nonprofit and media reports have questioned whether O'Sullivan's academic work has been shaped by conflicts of interest. O'Sullivan, a noted climate scholar, has sat on the board of global oil corporation
Hess. At the
Harvard Kennedy School
The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
, she leads the Geopolitics of Energy initiative. According to a 2021 investigative report from student group Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard on funding Harvard research, this initiative has received funding from BP, and took steps to cover up this fact after becoming aware of investigatory efforts into the initiative's funding sources.
O'Sullivan was instrumental in the
2003 Invasion of Iraq. In April 2021, the Washington Post issued a correction to an op-ed by O'Sullivan after the original version failed to disclose her board membership at Raytheon Corp, one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world.
Published works
*
* ''Windfall'', Simon and Schuster (2017)
*''Honey and Vinegar: Incentives, Sanctions, and Foreign Policy'', edited with Richard N. Haass, Brookings Institution Press (2000), .
ditBy Meghan L. O'Sullivan
Sanctioning 'Rogue' States: A Strategy in Decline? Harvard International Review, Summer 2000.
*
Terms of Engagement: Alternatives to Punitive Policies with
Richard N. Haass, Survival, 42:2 (Summer 2000), The International Institute for Strategic Studies.
*
Iraq: Time for a Modified Approach, Brookings Institution (IraqWatch), February 2001.
*
Sanctions and U.S. Foreign Policy, with Raymond Tanter, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, March 13, 2001.
*
, Brookings Institution Forum, September 21, 2002. Moderator: James B. Steinberg; Scholars: Thomas E. Mann, Michael E. O'Hanlon, and Meghan L. O'Sullivan.
*
The Politics of Dismantling Containment, The Washington Quarterly 27:1 (Winter 2001), pp. 67–76. Copyright 2000 by The Center for Strategic and International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"The Problem with Obama's Decision to Leave Iraq,"Foreign Affairs Magazine, October 28, 2011.
References
External links
A bibliography of Meghan L. O'Sullivan works at unjobs.org- December 14, 2005
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080503075734/http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/05/02/1/a-conversation-with-meghan-osullivan Interview with Charlie Rose, 2 May 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Meghan
1969 births
Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
George W. Bush administration personnel
Georgetown University alumni
Harvard Kennedy School faculty
Living people
Massachusetts Republicans
People from Lexington, Massachusetts
United States presidential advisors
Henry Crown Fellows