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
FEB 22, 2016 • Podcast
Beyond a New Cold War? International Security and the Need for U.S.-Russia Cooperation
The United States must stop its demonization of President Putin, according to members of this distinguished panel, all with long associations with Russia and all ...
JAN 5, 2016 • Podcast
Back to the Future? Battlefield Nuclear Weapons in South Asia
In this information-filled talk, Jeff McCausland, a retired U.S. Army colonel, explains why the India/Pakistan border may be the most dangerous place on ...
NOV 19, 2015 • Article
Beyond Paris: The Refugee Crisis in Europe
"Closing borders in the West will not only worsen the already unimaginable human rights disaster that asylum seekers are facing, but it will also add ...
NOV 16, 2015 • Podcast
Addressing Root Causes of Unrest in Arab Countries
What's the best way to create stability in the Middle East and North Africa? Get more young people into the workforce, says Ron Bruder, founder ...
NOV 9, 2015 • Podcast
The Putin Worldview, Russia in Syria, and the Ukraine Elections
Professor Nicolai Petro was one of a few American experts to attend the Valdai Discussion Club, an annual conference in Moscow on Russia's foreign policy ...
OCT 1, 2015 • Article
Messrs. Obama and Putin: Put Syria and Syrians First
While the U.S. and Russia disagree over the fate of Assad, they share a self-interested resolve to defeat the ISIL forces that now control ...
SEP 14, 2015 • Podcast
Russia's Soft Power: A Matter for Church and State
If other countries wish to understand Russia, they need to have a grasp of her values, which provide the moral framework for her policies and ...
AUG 20, 2015 • Podcast
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran: Assessment and Prospects
Professor Gary Sick, Iran expert at Columbia University and lead White House negotiator during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, assesses the merits of the recently negotiated ...
JUL 30, 2015 • Article
"Soft Power": The Values that Shape Russian Foreign Policy
In the increasingly frigid environment of U.S.-Russia relations, much attention is given to what may be seen as Russia's strategic "interests." Of at ...
JUL 20, 2015 • Podcast
Ukraine and the Future of Reforms
In May 2015, a time of crisis not only for Ukraine but also for the future of the entire EU, Cloud and Gvosdev went to Lithuania, ...