Richard Fontaine

Richard Fontaine is the chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security. He served as its president from 2012 to 2019 and as senior fellow from 2009 to 2012. Prior to his work at the center, he was foreign policy advisor to Senator John McCain and worked at the State Department, the National Security Council and on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Fontaine served as foreign policy advisor to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign and subsequently as the minority deputy staff director on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Prior to that, he served as associate director for Near Eastern affairs at the National Security Council from 2003 to 2004. He also worked on Southeast Asian issues in the council’s Asian Affairs directorate. A native of New Orleans, Fontaine graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in international relations from Tulane University. He also holds an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, and he attended Oxford University.