Thomas Fingar in Europe

Thomas Fingar, MA 1969, PhD 1977, is a specialist on comparative politics and international relations who divided his career between 28 years of teaching and research at Stanford and 23 years as a senior analyst in the State Department and the U.S. intelligence community. His previous positions include Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Analysis. From 1994–2008 he supervised work on all countries and issues. Positions at Stanford include the Payne Distinguished Lecturer, Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow, and Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center Fellow (all in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies). He has authored or edited seven books and dozens of articles, co-chaired the U.S.-Russia Strategic Stability Dialog (2015–2021), and lived in Europe four times.

During this program Dr. Fingar’s lectures will examine the origins, objectives, and instruments of U.S. foreign policy after World War II, how European states and multinational organizations fit into the American vision for world order, and how recent U.S. actions and attitudes have affected Europe and the international system.

• Inaugural Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, 2010–2015

• Payne Distinguished Lecturer, Stanford University, 2009

• Deputy director, National Intelligence for Analysis and director, National Intelligence Council, 2005–2008

• Numerous U.S. State Department positions, 1986–2005

• Editor, Uneasy Partnerships: China’s Engagement with Japan, the Koreas, and Russia in the Era of Reform, Stanford University Press, 2017

• BA, government and history, 1968, Cornell University

• MA, 1969, and PhD, 1977, political science, Stanford University