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Antony J. Blinken

Ex Officio Board Member

Antony J. Blinken is the 71st U.S. Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall serve as a member of the International Broadcasting Advisory Board for the duration of their tenure as Secretary of State. Over three decades and three presidential administrations, Blinken has helped shape U.S. foreign policy to ensure it protects U.S. interests and delivers results for the American people.

He served as deputy secretary of state for President Barack Obama, and before that, as President Obama’s principal deputy national security advisor. During the first term of the Obama Administration, Blinken was national security advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden. Prior to that, Blinken worked as Democratic staff director for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and then-Senator Biden was committee chair.

During the Clinton Administration, Blinken served as a member of the National Security Council staff. He also spent four years as President Clinton’s chief foreign policy speechwriter, and he led the NSC’s strategic planning team. Blinken’s public service began at the State Department. From 1993 to 1994, he was a special assistant in what was then called the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs.

Outside of government, Blinken has worked in the private sector, civil society, and journalism. He was a founder of WestExec Advisors, an international strategic consulting firm focused on geopolitics and national security. He was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies from 2001 and 2002. Before joining government, Blinken practiced law in New York and Paris. He was also a reporter for The New Republic magazine and is the author of Ally Versus Ally: America, Europe and the Siberian Pipeline Crisis.

He is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School.