Paula J. Dobriansky

Paula J. Dobriansky was born September 14, 1955, in Alexandria, VA. She was appointed as Under Secretary, Global Affairs on May 1, 2001, by President George Walker Bush.

Dobriansky can be considered a neo-conservative. She was one of the signatories of the January 26, 1998, Project for the New American Century (PNAC Letter) to President William Jefferson Clinton.

Previously, Dr. Dobriansky served as Senior Vice President and Director of the Washington Office of the Council on Foreign Relations, "responsible for managing the Council's office and operations in DC and for leading Council meetings, study groups, and seminars. She was also the Council's first George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies." She is also a member of the Trilateral Commission.

According to the official Department of State biography for Dobriansky, she was "unanimously confirmed" by the Senate. Dobriansky's responsibilities include "a broad range of foreign policy issues, including democracy, human rights, labor, counter-narcotics and law enforcement, refugee and humanitarian relief matters and environmental/scientific issues. She has also been designated as the Special Coordinator for Tibet."

Dr. Dobriansky has "served as Senior International Affairs and Trade Advisor at the law firm of Hunton & Williams and as Co-Chair of the International TV Council at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."

Dobriansky's government appointments include Associate Director for Policy and Programs at the United States Information Agency (1990-1993), Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs (1987-1990); Deputy Head of the U.S. Delegation to the 1990 Copenhagen Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE); Advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the 1985 UN Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi, Kenya; and Director of European and Soviet Affairs at the National Security Council (1983-1984), the White House." She also was Foreign Policy Coordinator for Bob Dole's 1996 Campaign.

Dobriansky received "a B.S.F.S. summa cum laude in International Politics from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (1977) and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Soviet political/military affairs from Harvard University (1980). She is a Fulbright-Hays scholar, Ford and Rotary Foundation Fellow, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a recipient of various awards, including Georgetown University's Annual Alumni Achievement Award, the State Department's Superior Honor Award, and Poland's Highest Medal of Merit."

Her father is Lev E. Dobriansky. Her sister, Larisa Dobriansky, has also been on/off in the U.S. government dealing with environmental issues, e.g., active against the Kyoto Agreements; she is a lawyer at Akin Gump.

"Dr. Dobriansky has served on various boards, including the Western NIS Enterprise Fund, National Endowment for Democracy (Vice Chairman), Freedom House, American Council of Young Political Leaders and the American Bar Association Central and East European Law Initiative, and the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy."

"Dr. Dobriansky has lectured and published articles, book chapters and op-ed pieces on foreign affairs-related topics, ranging from U.S. human rights policy to East European foreign and defense policies, public diplomacy, democracy promotion strategies, Russia and Ukraine. For three years, she hosted Freedom's Challenge and co-hosted Worldwise, the international affairs programs on National Empowerment Television. Additionally, she has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN Headline News, CNN & Company, Fox Morning News, John McLaughlin's One-on-One, The McLaughlin Group, C-SPAN, MSNBC, PBS, National Public Radio, and has testified often before the Senate Foreign Relations and House International Relations Committees."

"Paula Dobriansky was on the advisory board of the Independent Women's Forum and an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute."


 * Recipient of the 2002 NED Democracy Service Medal
 * Former Council member, Center for Communications, Health and the Environment
 * Steering Committee, Strategic Public Diplomacy Project

Globalize democracy
In the November 17, 2002, article "Democracy Drowned Out" in The Washington Post, Jackson Diehl related the efforts of the George Walker Bush Administration to push for the adoption of an action plan that would commit "110 governments to preserve political freedom in their own countries and spread it to their neighbors." The group of democracy campaigners was led by Undersecretary of State Dobriansky who was credited for the past year with "tirelessly making the argument that terrorism may best be combated by bringing political liberty to the countries that breed extremists."

Affiliations

 * Hunton & Williams law firm
 * Center for Security Policy
 * Trustee Emeriti, Fund for American Studies

SourceWatch resources

 * FutureGen
 * Project for the New American Century, PNAC, original signer

Articles

 * Paula Dobriansky, Beginning a New Chapter in Sustainable Development, U.S. Embassy, Italy, April 10, 2002.
 * State Department [biography.
 * Paula Dobriansky, "Democracy is Vital, Expanding Force on World Stage", U.S. Embassy, Brussels, November 14, 2002.
 * Paula Dobriansky, Brookings/Council on Foreign Relations Forum World Summit on Sustainable Development, Uncorrected Transcript, Brookings Institution, Thursday, May 23, 2002.
 * Remarks of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham At the Announcement of the FutureGen Power Plant of the Future Project and the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum, February 27, 2003.