Vice President, Studies at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Rachel Bronson is the Vice President, Studies at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs where she is helping to create a nationally and internationally recognized foreign policy think tank in Chicago. Her previous position, Vice President of Programs and Studies included overseeing the more than 150 programs The Chicago Council runs annually. Her shift in responsibilities is a testament to the increasing focus that the organization is placing on its research capacity and policy impact. Prior to that, she served as Senior Fellow and Director, Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Earlier positions include Senior Fellow for International Security Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. Dr. Bronson’s book Thicker than Oil: America’s Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Oxford University Press, 2006), has been translated into Japanese and published in paperback in June 2008.
Her writings have appeared in publications such as Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, The New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Chicago Tribune. She has commented widely on foreign affairs in outlets such as NPR, CNN, The Lehrer News Hour, The Charlie Rose Show, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Dr. Bronson has served as a consultant to NBC News and the Center for Naval Analyses. She has testified before the Congressional Anti-Terrorist Finance Task Force, Congress’ Joint Economic Committee and the 9/11 Commission.
In 2003, Dr. Bronson was named a Carnegie Corporation Scholar. She was named by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of the 20 women to watch in 2008. She earned a B.A. in history at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 1997.