The Cleveland Council on World Affairs is honored to host Richard Fontaine for the John A. Hellman Foreign Policy Forum.

With strategic competition with China, ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, ever-growing climate crises, and a plethora of other pressing global issues, the United States faces a new era of geopolitical challenges that the incoming administration in January 2025 will need to carefully navigate. Specifically with respect to China, the last 13 years of American foreign policy have been largely defined by a strategic reorientation to view Asia as America’s priority region – strategically and economically. This was President Obama’s “Pivot to Asia”. Today, the global landscape is being shaped by power competition involving China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea that are challenging the U.S.-led world order in various ways, forcing the U.S. to refresh its traditional focus on European allies and democracies, among others. As a new administration takes office, it is imperative to reflect on past foreign policy successes and failures and assess the areas in which U.S. foreign policy should remain consistent and where it needs to evolve.

CCWA is honored to host Richard Fontaine, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a New American Security, and co-author of “Lost Decade. The U.S. Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power,” to discuss the impact of the United States’ “Pivot to Asia” and the future direction of U.S. foreign policy. Should the U.S. continue to prioritize Asia before Europe? How would the U.S. do this while still upholding the commitments to allies in other regions? Drawing upon his experience working in the State Department, National Security Council, and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Fontaine will share his perspective on how the next administration could best reassure the world that the United States has good intentions, competence, leadership, and staying power.

Richard Fontaine is the Chief Executive Officer of CNAS. He served as President of CNAS from 2012–19 and as Senior Fellow from 2009–12. Prior to CNAS, he was foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain and worked at the State Department, the National Security Council (NSC), and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mr. Fontaine currently serves as executive director of the Trilateral Commission and on the Defense Policy Board. He has been an adjunct professor in the security studies program at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

A native of New Orleans, Fontaine graduated summa cum laude with a BA in international relations from Tulane University. He also holds an MA in international affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, and he attended Oxford University. He lives in Virginia with his wife and their four children.