Former Trustee of The Asia Foundation

Adjunct Professor, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Adjunct Professor, Elliott School, George Washington University
Former U.S. Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations, rank of Ambassador
Former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs



Karl F. Inderfurth first joined The Asia Foundation’s Board of Trustees in 2008. He is an adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. He held the inaugural Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) from 2011-2013. He served as Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs (1997-2001), with responsibility for, among other countries in the region, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State for Global Humanitarian Demining (1997-1998), and, from 1993 to 1997, served as U.S. Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador. His portfolio included UN peacekeeping, disarmament and security affairs. During this time, Inderfurth also served as Deputy U.S. Representative on the UN Security Council and took part in Council missions to Somalia, Mozambique, Burundi, Rwanda, and Western Sahara.

Prior to his presidential appointments, Inderfurth worked as a national security and later a Moscow Correspondent for ABC News (1981-1991) and received an Emmy Award in 1983. He also served on the professional staffs of the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committees and the National Security Council. He is co-author of Fateful Decisions: Inside the National Security Council, published by Oxford University Press in 2004. He received his master’s degree from Princeton University, and was a Fulbright Scholar at Strathclyde University in Scotland where, in 2013, he was presented the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa for his contributions to the field of international affairs.