L. Desaix Anderson

Desaix Anderson, is "a 35-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, spent most of his career working on Asian issues. He served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State from 1989 to 1992. He was the first envoy to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam following establishment of diplomatic relations, serving as charge d'affaires from August 1995 when the embassy opened until April 1997. He subsequently was appointed executive director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) from October 1997 through April 2001.

"Anderson entered the Foreign Service in 1962. His first assignment was in Kathmandu, Nepal, as general services officer ((1963-64). He was assigned to Vietnam as an A.I.D. provincial representative and later as an advisor to the revolutionary development programs in Vietnam; the Vietnam Working Group in the State Department )1965-67); political officer in the U.S. Embassy in Taipei (1970-73); Political officer in U.S. Embassy Tokyo (1973-76). After a stint in the Political-Military Bureau; deputy political counselor and chief Indochina watcher in the U.S. Embassy Thailand (977-80); Country Director for Vietnam, Laos, and Kampuchea in the Department of State (1980-83); Country Director for Japan (1983-85); Deputy Chief of Mission in Tokyo under Ambassador Mike Mansfield (1985-89); Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific, covering Japan, Korea, China, and Mongolia (1989-92); diplomat-in-residence at Princeton and Rutgers Universities, where he lectured and wrote on East Asian political economies (1992-93); State Department Coordinator for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial and leaders meetings hosted by President Clinton in Seattle, Washington (1993-94); Senior Member for Asia of the Policy Planning Council (1994-1995).

"Following his service as charge d'affaires in Hanoi, he retired from the Foreign Service in May 1997. He served as State Department Special Envoy on Cambodia on August 1997. He was appointed Executive Director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) on October 28, 1997, until late April 2001.

"Mr. Anderson occasionally teaches on contemporary Asian political economies and Asian security issues at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and the new Princeton Institute of International and regional Studies (PIIRS) at Princeton University. He lectures on Asian issues at a number of universities around the country, and writes regularly on Asian economic, political, and security issues. Mr. Anderson also paints, abstractions from his diplomatic travels and experiences, and on contemporary philosophical themes.

"Mr. Anderson's book, An American in Hanoi: America's Reconciliation with Vietnam, was published in March 2002 by EastBridge. He regularly contributes articles on East Asian issues to publications and periodicals. He received his B.A.in History from Princeton University, and did graduate work in European Literature at the University of California at Berkeley. He also served on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Navy (1958-60). Mr. Anderson speaks French, Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese." 


 * Member, National Committee on North Korea
 * Advisory Council, Center of International Studies