People

Meghan O'Sullivan

Meghan O'Sullivan

Formal First Name
Meghan
Dates
1969 - present

Meghan O'Sullivan is the Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs and Director of the Geopolitics of Energy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She is also a Partner at the strategic consulting firm Macro Advisory Partners and is the Chair of the North American Group of the Trilateral Commission. Dr. O’Sullivan has extensive experience in policy formulation and in negotiation. She draws on her broad experience in government, business, diplomacy and academia to shed insights on foreign policy and national security, energy markets, the transition to a net-zero global economy and the geopolitics of that transition. Previously, Dr. O’Sullivan was a Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan and a Special Assistant to the President during the George W. Bush administration, where she was a principal advocate of the 2007 surge strategy. She has written several books and many articles on international affairs, including her award winning 2017 book Windfall: How the New Energy Abundance Upends Global Politics and Strengthens America’s Power.

Professional Experience


Academic History

GOVERNMENT

  • At the National Security Council, Dr. O'Sullivan was responsible for building consensus around new policy directions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  • She spent two years in Iraq during which she helped negotiate the Transitional Administrative Law, which was the interim constitution of Iraq from 2004-06.

  • She was the Vice Chair of the All Party Talks in Northern Ireland, which sought to resolve outstanding issues in the peace process. 

  • She also worked in the office of Policy Planning in the State Department under Secretary of State Colin Powell.

  • She served in the  State Department as principal advisor to the President's Special Envoy to the Northern Ireland Peace Process.

  • She holds a Top Secret/SCI Security Clearance from the U.S. government.


AFFILIATIONS


HONORS & RECOGNITIONS

  • Medal for Distinguished Public Service, U.S. Department of Defense

  • 3X Superior Honor Award, U.S. Department of State

  • 2008 Most Influential People of the Century, Esquire Magazine