Michael Froman Named New Council on Foreign Relations President

Michael Froman, a vice chairman of MasterCard Inc. and a US trade representative in the Obama administration, will take the helm at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

(Bloomberg) — Michael Froman, a vice chairman of MasterCard Inc. and a US trade representative in the Obama administration, will take the helm at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

Froman, 60, will take over in June 2023 from Richard Haass, who has been the president since 2003. He has worked in the Clinton administration, serving in the Treasury Department and on both the National Security Council and National Economic Council. 

“As the world faces the return of great power politics, the challenge of growing authoritarianism, and the urgency of climate change, CFR has a critical role to play in forging dialogue among people with differing perspectives and deepening understanding around these issues,” Froman said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to getting to work.” 

Froman graduated from Princeton University and received a law degree from Harvard as well as a doctorate in international relations from Oxford. 

In a letter to the group’s members, Council Board Chairman David Rubenstein said the search process had winnowed down 120 nominations to “a diverse group of 27 candidates.”

Rubenstein said the search committee sought an experienced leader who had worked in foreign affairs and had a background in government and engaging with the media.

“Mike met all of those criteria, and then some,” Rubenstein wrote. “He’s been described as a ‘tri-sector’ leader – having led at the highest levels across government, business, and the nonprofit sector – and his expertise sits squarely at the intersection of foreign policy, national security, and international economics.” 

Haass, who served as the head of policy planning at President George W. Bush’s State Department, sought to maintain the Council’s bipartisan nature while also calling out what he saw as errors by both sides, with particular criticism directed at former President Donald Trump.

“Trump tried to overturn U.S. foreign policy without offering a substitute,” Haass wrote in 2020.

At the same time, he didn’t hold back against Biden, faulting the pullout from Afghanistan and the push to target Russia for war crimes in Ukraine.

“This risks leading Russians to rally around Putin,” Haas said in a tweet last month. “Call for justice however warranted should not take priority over peace.”

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.