Richard Fontaine

Richard Fontaine is an American foreign policy analyst currently serving as CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

Born in New Orleans, Fontaine holds a BA in international relations from Tulane University and a MA in International affairs from Johns Hopkins University SAIS.

Fontaine started his foreign policy career as a staff member focusing on the Middle East and South Asia at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Between 2003 and 2004, he was the associate director for Near Eastern Affairs at the White House National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration.

Fontaine served as a foreign policy advisor to the John McCain 2008 presidential campaign from 2004 to 2008 and later became the Senate Armed Services Committee's minority deputy staff director.

He was appointed a senior fellow and senior advisor at CNAS in 2009 and became president in 2012, succeeding John Nagl. In 2019, he was named CNAS' CEO, succeeding Victoria Nuland.

Fontaine was also an adjunct professor at Georgetown SFS' security studies program.

Articles

• Americans Need Domestic Unity for Effective Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, February 5, 2024 (co-authored with Stephen J. Hadley)
• Election Interference Demands a Collective Defense, Foreign Affairs, August 7, 2023

• The Myth of Neutrality, Foreign Affairs, July 12, 2023

• China's Balloon-Size Blunder Is a Huge Opportunity, The Atlantic, February 13, 2023

• To Help Afghanistan, Engage Its Political Opposition, Foreign Policy, January 31, 2023 (co-authored with Lisa Curtis)
• Ukraine War Should Slow But Not Stop the U.S. Pivot to Asia, Bloomberg Opinion, March 8, 2022 (co-authored with Robert D. Blackwill)

• Washington's Missing China Strategy, Foreign Affairs, January 14, 2022

• The Case Against Foreign Policy Solutionism, Foreign Affairs, February 8, 2021
• Mike Pompeo Needs to Clean Up After Rex Tillerson, Foreign Policy, April 24, 2018 (co-authored with Jamie Fly)
• The Uses and Misuses of Historical Analogy for North Korea, The Atlantic, October 3, 2017 (co-authored with Vance Serchuk)

• CNAS Commentary: A Bipartisan National Security Agenda for an Election Year, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, February 25, 2016 (co-authored with Michèle Flournoy)