Former Trustee of The Asia Foundation

Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace



Douglas Paal left the Board of Trustees in 2017.

Douglas H. Paal joined The Asia Foundation’s Board of Trustees in 2009. He is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He previously served as unofficial U.S. representative to Taiwan as director of the American Institute in Taiwan from April 2002 to January 2006.

He is the founder and a former president of the Asia Pacific Policy Center and served on the board of directors for ATC International. He was on the National Security Council staff of Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and between 1986 and 1993 as director of Asian Affairs, and then as senior director and special assistant to the President.

Paal held positions in the policy planning staff at the State Department and at U.S. Embassies in Singapore and Beijing. He has spoken and published frequently on Asian affairs and national security issues. He received his doctor of philosophy degree from Harvard University and speaks both Chinese and Japanese.