Aaron Louis Friedberg (born April 16, 1956) is an American

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He served from 2003 to 2005 in the office of the

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

as deputy assistant for

national-security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived ...

affairs and director of policy planning. After receiving his PhD in

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, Friedberg joined the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

faculty in 1987 and was appointed professor of politics and international affairs in 1999. He has served as Director of Princeton's Research Program in International Security at the Woodrow Wilson School as well as acting director of the

Center of International Studies The Center of International Studies (CIS) was a research center that was part of Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in Princeton, New Jersey. It was founded in 1951 by six scholars who came to Princeto ...

at Princeton. Friedberg is a former fellow at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

’s Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the

Norwegian Nobel Institute The Norwegian Nobel Institute () is located in Oslo, Norway. The institute is located at Henrik Ibsen Street 51 in the center of the city. It is situated just by the side of the Royal Palace. History The institute was established in 1904 in Kr ...

, and

’s

Center for International Affairs The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA), formerly Center for International Affairs (CFIA) is a research center for international affairs and the largest international research center within Harvard University's Faculty of Arts a ...

. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Counselors for the

National Bureau of Asian Research The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) is an American non-profit research institution based in Seattle, Washington, with a branch office in Washington, D.C. NBR brings together specialists, policymakers, and business leaders to examine e ...

's Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies. In September 2001, Friedberg began a nine-month residential appointment as the first Henry Alfred Kissinger Scholar at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. During his tenure he researched "the rise of Asia and its implications for America." Apart from many articles for ''Commentary'' magazine, Friedberg has written several books on foreign relations. He was one of the signers of the

Project for the New American Century The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservative *"The PNAC's 33 leaders were highly connected with the American state – displaying 115 such connections: 27 with the Department of Defense, 13 with State, 12 with the Whit ...

(PNAC) documents ''Statement of Principles'' (June 3, 1997) and a letter on terrorism submitted to President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

(September 20, 2001). His name has been connected to the

Aspen Strategy Group The Aspen Strategy Group (ASG) is a policy program of the Aspen Institute, based in Washington D.C. The ASG convenes decision-makers and thought leaders in nonpartisan public and private forums to discuss the most pressing challenges in U.S. n ...

at the

Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home. Its stated miss ...

. Friedberg represented the Romney campaign in his capacity as the campaign's National Security Advisor during a debate on US policy toward China in October 2012. In 2020, Friedberg, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him." Friedberg co-founded the Alexander Hamilton Society, a non-partisan membership organization based in DC, along with

Dan Blumenthal Dan Blumenthal (born 1972) is an American security analyst focused on East Asia and US-China-Taiwan relations, currently serving as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and an advisory board member of the Project 2049 Inst ...

and Roy Katzovicz in March 2010. He continues to serve on its board of directors.

International relations philosophy

Although Friedberg's

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

is rooted in concern for the structural organization of power characteristic of the realist school of international relations, he draws from many of the traditions of

liberal institutionalism Liberal institutionalism (or institutional liberalism or neoliberalism) is a theory of international relations that holds that international cooperation between states is feasible and sustainable, and that such cooperation can reduce conflict and ...

, resulting in what scholar Thomas Christensen has termed a "positive-sum" stance on international relations. Hence, unlike more pessimistic realist scholars, Friedberg, in a seminal article published in

International Security ''International Security'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the field of international and national security. It was founded in 1976 and is edited by the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University and publis ...

in 1993, advocated continued U.S. engagement in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

to serve as a stabilizing force until regional economic integration and multilateral institutions had time to develop. Thus, in contrast to traditional

realpolitik ''Realpolitik'' ( ; ) is the approach of conducting diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly following ideological, moral, or ethical premises. In this respect, ...

scholars, Friedberg believes that conflict is not inevitable in East Asia as China continues to develop as long as multilateral institutions and economic integration are used as tools to manage

security dilemma In international relations, the security dilemma (also referred to as the spiral model) is when the increase in one state's security (such as increasing its military strength) leads other states to fear for their own security (because they do not k ...

Publications

Books

*
The Weary Titan: Britain and The Experience of Relative Decline, 1895–1905
' (Princeton University Press, 1988) * ''In the Shadow of the Garrison State: America's Anti-Statism and Its Cold War Grand Strategy'' (Princeton University Press, 2000) * ''A Contest for Supremacy: China, America, and the Struggle for Mastery in Asia'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 2011) * ''Beyond Air-Sea Battle: The Debate Over US Military Strategy in Asia'' (Routledge, 2014) * ''Getting China Wrong'' (Polity, 2022)

Articles

Six Lessons from a Decade of Asia Strategy Simulations, ''

German Marshall Fund The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a non-partisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972, through a gift from the W ...

'', June 22, 2022

References

External links

Aaron Friedberg's blog at ForeignPolicy.comThe Geopolitics of Strategic Asia, 2000–2020
in ''Strategic Asia 2010–11: Asia's Rising Power and America's Continued Purpose'' (

, September 2010)
"11 September and the Future of Sino-American Relations"

A New China Strategy
- 2015 essay * {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedberg, Aaron Political realists Neoclassical realists(international relations) 1956 births Living people University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni Princeton University faculty Harvard University staff American international relations scholars Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni National Bureau of Asian Research Harvard University alumni