Ted Piccone

Ted Piccone is a senior fellow working on issues of international order and strategy, democracy and human rights, and Latin America in the Foreign Policy program at The Brookings Institution. Previously, he served as the program’s acting vice president and director from 2013 to 2014 and deputy director from 2008 to 2013.

Ted Piccone served eight years as a senior foreign policy advisor in the Clinton administration, including on the staff of the National Security Council, the State Department's Office of Policy Planning, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. From 2001 to 2008, Piccone was the executive director and co-founder of the Democracy Coalition Project, a research and advocacy organization working to promote international cooperation for democracy and human rights globally. He was also the Washington office director for the Club of Madrid and continues as an advisor. 

In 2017, he led the Community of Democracies’ Democracy and Security Dialogue co-chaired by Madeleine Albright and Mehdi Jomaa, which produced a comprehensivefinal report on liberal democracy and the path to peace and security. His most recent book, "Five Rising Democracies and the Fate of the International Liberal Order", compares the foreign policy trajectories of India, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey and Indonesia. His book, "Catalysts for Change: How the UN’s Independent Experts Promote Human Rights", is read widely by experts involved in the international human rights system. He is also an adjunct professor at the American University Washington College of Law.

Ted Piccone holds a law degree from Columbia University, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, and received a bachelor’s in history magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

Last updated: 2017