David C. Speedie

Founder and Former Director, U.S. Global Engagement Program

David Speedie is the founder and former director of the Council's program on U.S. Global Engagement. He is a founding member of The American Committee for East-West Accord.

In 2007–2008, Speedie was also a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Speedie worked at Carnegie Corporation of New York from 1992 to 2007. He joined the Corporation as a program officer in the cooperative security program and was appointed program chair in March 1993, a position he held for almost 12 years. In 2004, he was appointed to serve as special advisor to the president and director of the Corporation's project on Islam.

He was recruited from the W. Alton Jones Foundation where he was codirector of the secure society program and directed, over a five year period, programs in the arts, urban affairs, and the environment. In the 1980s, Speedie was a consultant to nonprofits in management, marketing, and fund-raising as well as director of cultural affairs for Mayor Bill Green in Philadelphia. He also served as the bicentennial liaison officer at the British Embassy in Washington.

For three years, Speedie was a professor of English and drama at the University of St Andrews in his native Scotland. Speedie holds an Honours M.A. [First Class] in Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Studies and an M.Litt. from the University of St Andrews. He was a visiting research fellow as a Kennedy scholar at Harvard University from 1971–1973. He has been a book editor and writer for the National Endowment for the Arts' Community Vision, a freelance journalist on politics for The Scotsman, and most recently, a reviewer for the International Journal of Middle East Studies. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Featured Work

JUL 20, 2010 Article

For Obama, Short-term Tactics, or Long-term Strategy on Iran?

By insisting on votes on sanctions against Iran, Obama may have sacrificed his strategic objective--to prevent the development of the Iranian bomb--for an ephemeral victory ...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramananv/2523861065/" target=_blank">"Wilted"</a> by Krosstok (CC)

JUL 1, 2010 Article

The Bloom is off the Rose--and the Orange, and the Tulip

What went wrong with the "Color Revolutions" in Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan? It was a combination of excessive expectations of the new leaders, and some ...

JUN 30, 2010 Podcast

Beyond the NPT

Doctors Roald Sagdeev and Frank von Hippel have collaborated for decades on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation between the U.S. and the USSR. They ...

CREDIT: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/32563690/">Leo Reynolds</a> (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/deed.en">CC</a>).

JUN 2, 2010 Article

Foundations Are Free to Innovate

Charitable and philanthropic foundations hold a uniquely privileged position in society. With the right mix of daring and rigor they can spark real creativity among ...

Iranian Flag

MAY 27, 2010 Article

Dealing with Iran: "Missed Opportunities" and "Holding Contradictory Ideas at the Same Time"

How, ask David Speedie and Gary Sick, can we move the U.S.-Iran dialogue beyond the current mutually recriminatory stalemate?

MAY 25, 2010 Podcast

After START--What Next? David Speedie Interviews Jayantha Dhanapala

Jayantha Dhanapala, former under-secretary-general for Disarmament Affairs at the UN, gives his views on "getting to zero" on nuclear weapons.

MAY 7, 2010 Podcast

Sebastian Junger and David Speedie on Afghanistan (NEWSWEEK On Air Interview)

Sebastian Junger recounts some of his experiences while embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Referring to a recent Carnegie Council panel, David Speedie discusses ...

APR 30, 2010 Article

Rise of the Rest

The Council's "Rise of the Rest" project focuses not on decline of existing powers but on the emergence of others. The U.S. should accept ...

Israeli, Russian, and U.S. Flags

MAR 30, 2010 Article

Jackson-Vanik: a Bridge to the 20th Century

U.S. and Russian leaders and Jewish organizations all agree: the U.S. should "graduate" Russia from the JV amendment, which ties freedom of trade ...

Preventing Genocide: Practical Steps Toward Early Detection and Effective Action

MAR 29, 2010 Podcast

Recent Advances in the Prevention of Mass Violence

How can we prevent mass violence? Drawing on insights from leaders in the field, David Hamburg identifies the clear warnings that always appear long before ...