Senior Vice President
National Committee on American Foreign Policy

Email: donald.zagoria@ncafp.org

Security

Expertise

- US-DPRK Relations

- DPRK-China Relation

- Conflict Resolution

- Strategic Planning

- Humanitarian Aid

- Community & Partnership Development

- Capacity Building

Background

Dr. Zagoria is the Project Director of The Forum on Asia Pacific Security at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. The Forum runs five major track II dialogues on regional security issues in the Asia-Pacific. The first, on U.S., China and cross-Strait Relations has both a specific focus, to try to maintain and enhance the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and a broader agenda, which tries to expand the areas of cooperation between the United States and China, while minimizing the possibilities for mistrust and potential conflict. The second dialogue strives to facilitate the denuclearization of North Korea. The NCAFP works with the United States’ regional partners (China, Japan, South Korea and to some extent Russia), each of which has different interests and views on how best to approach North Korea, in an effort to coordinate our approaches. At the same time the NCAFP holds bilateral dialogues with the DPRK and has been doing so since 2003. The third is an “Alliances” dialogue with Japan and South Korea. While fostering multilateralism in the Asia-Pacific region, it is crucial that the United States strengthen its ties with its historical allies, Japan and South Korea. The fourth Track II project is a quadrilateral dialogue bringing together the United States, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) to discuss both regional and global issues and to develop a common strategic vision. Finally, project director Professor Zagoria and the Forum have recently started a strategic U.S.-PRC dialogue at the Track 1½ level. Building mutual strategic trust will be crucial to maintaining peaceful relations between the U.S. and China, the two countries which are destined to be the strongest powers in the international system in the 21st century.

Biography

Donald S. Zagoria is Senior Vice President at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. The Forum runs four major track II dialogues on regional security issues in the Asia-Pacific. Prior to joining the NCAFP, Professor Zagoria was a consultant during the Carter Administration to both the National Security Council and the East Asian Bureau of the State Department. He has also worked for the RAND Corporation and taught courses on United States foreign policy and the international relations of East Asia at Hunter College for many years. Professor Zagoria is also actively associated with the East Asian Institute of Columbia University, has been a member of several Columbia University study groups and is actively involved with the Asia Society and the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He has written or edited four books and more than 300 articles on relations among the great powers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Professor Zagoria earned his BA at Rutgers University and his M.A. and Ph.D. at Columbia University. 

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