Heather Hurlburt
Executive Director
Before joining NSN, Hurlburt ran her own communications and strategy practice, working on global and political issues with political, entertainment, and educational leaders. From 1995-2001, Hurlburt served in the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant and Speechwriter to the President, speechwriter for Secretaries of State Albright and Christopher, and member of the State Department’s Policy Planning staff. She has also worked for the International Crisis Group, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Congressional Helsinki Commission. At the Helsinki Commission, she was a negotiating member of the US Delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and participated extensively in election monitoring, democracy-building and post-conflict missions in Central and Eastern Europe. She appears frequently as a commentator in new and traditional media and is a regular guest on Robert Wright’s Blogging Heads TV. Her work has been published by the New York Times, Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Guardian, POLITICO, New Republic and other outlets. Hurlburt holds a BA from Brown University, magna cum laude, and an MA from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.
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In the News
Heather Hurlburt Quoted in The Nation on GOP’s Backward Foreign Policy
Elder statesmen from the George H.W. Bush administration like Powell and Scowcroft are much closer to Obama than to Romney. “The foreign policy experts who represent old-school, small-c conservatism and internationalism have been pushed out of the party,” says Heather Hurlburt, executive director of the center-left National Security Network. “Who in the Republican Party still listens to Brent Scowcroft?” Wilkerson says the likes of Powell and Scowcroft are “very worried about their ability to restore moderation and sobriety to the party’s foreign and domestic policies.” In 2012 Obama is running as Bush 41 and Romney as Bush 43.
Why Jim Yong Kim Would Make A Great World Bank President
By Heather Hurlburt, The Guardian March 23, 2012
Heather Hurlburt Quoted In Yahoo! News On President Obama’s Pick For World Bank President
“This [the choice] is much more significant than ‘he is not a Washington insider,’” Heather Hurlburt, a former Clinton administration official who is now executive director of the progressive National Security Network, told Yahoo News.
Nuclear Weapons policy: It’s 2012, not 1992
By Heather Hurlburt, The Hill’s Congress Blog, March 20, 2012
Heather Hurlburt Quoted In Inter Press Service On Pushing Back Against Calls To Bomb Syria
“It was incredibly poor timing by McCain to call for bombing Syria,” observed Heather Hurlburt, the executive director of the National Security Network (NSN), a foreign policy think tank close to the Obama administration. “I don’t know what it looks like to call for bombing Syria the same week (that) you’re calling for bombing Iran.”
Heather Hurlburt Speaks On Panel At New America Foundation On Iran
Heather Hurlburt spoke on a panel at the New America Foundation on “America, Israel and Iran After Netanyahu’s Visit: Separating Rhetoric From Reality.” America, Israel and Iran After Netanyahu’s Visit: Separating Rhetoric From Reality Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington DC, and weeks of spin and speculation regarding a potential conflict with [...]
Heather Hurlburt Quoted In Politico On Partisan Divide Regarding Syria
Partisan lines grow stark on Syria By Ben Smith March 1, 2012 | Politico It takes very little to polarize America’s two political parties, but a year of turmoil in the Arab world produced a surprising failure to draw clear partisan lines. As President Barack Obama reacted cautiously to the mass protests in Cairo, some [...]
Heather Hurlburt Quoted In Jewish Telegraphic Agency On Iran
“They couldn’t find any Democratic co-sponsors until they addressed those concerns,” said Heather Hurlburt, executive director of the National Security Network, a think tank allied with foreign policy realists and liberals, and one of a number of groups that made representations to Democratic senators in recent weeks to tone down the resolution.
Heather Hurlburt On Current TV Discussing Public Support for Drone Strikes with David Shuster
Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Current TV February 9, 2012
Heather Hurlburt on Revolution Boston Radio Discussing Iran and Syria with Jeff Santos
Jeff Santos Show, Revolution Boston February 8, 2012
Heather Hurlburt Discusses Iran, Syria, And The Responsibility To Protect With Robert Farley On Bloggingheads
Heather Hurlburt and Rob Farley discuss the tightening sanctions on Iran, the situation in Syria, and some problems regarding the “Responsibility to Protect.” For the original piece, click here.
Heather Hurlburt Cited On ThinkProgress on Guide to Not Attacking Iran
As a useful guide by the National Security Network’s Heather Hurlbert shows, a trio of elite opinion-makers buttressed that view with pieces on Monday.
Heather Hurlburt Cited In The Atlantic On Iran
For background reading right now, this excellent summary by Heather Hurlburt at Democracy Arsenal points toward a number of useful analyses.
Heather Hurlburt Quoted In Yahoo! News On Prospective Secretary of State Candidates
“That is what doing policy in a democracy means,” Heather Hurlburt, a former Clinton-era NSC and State Department official who now heads the progressive National Security Network, told Yahoo News Tuesday.
Grading Obama’s Foreign Policy
By Heather Hurlburt January 23, 2012 | Foreign Policy Barack Obama’s list of achievements on foreign policy and national security is long, but also diffuse. Many are good starts on works in progress. The misses, while smaller, are specific and painful. Achievements: 1. Winding down the Bush wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 2. Making counterterrorism quieter [...]
Heather Hurlburt Quoted In Politico On Romney Foreign Policy
“Petraeus, McChrystal, every commander has said the ultimate solution in Afghanistan is political, not military. So someone will end up talking to the Taliban, whether a President Romney acknowledges it or not,” said Heather Hurlburt, who heads the National Security Network, a Democratic group. “It’s the kind of posturing that may be effective with the primary electorate but will be quite embarrassing if he winds up in office.”
Heather Hurlburt’s “Will Romney Defend Our Turkish Allies?” Featured On RealClearWorld’s Best Of Blogs
Heather Hurlburt’s blog post “Will Romney Defend Our Turkish Allies?” on the National Security Network’s Democracy Arsenal blog was featured on RealClearWorld’s Best of Blogs list for January 18, 2012.
Heather Hurlburt Mentioned In The American Prospect On Women and Peacemaking
Heather Hurlburt of the National Security Network first brought this speech to my attention. I was reminded of it last night at a forum at Harvard’s Kennedy School, organized and chaired by former Ambassador Swanee Hunt, who quoted the speech before introducing some remarkable female peacemakers from Sudan, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel, and Palestine.
Heather Hurlburt Quoted In Huffington Post On Guantanamo Bay
“Here we are, 10 years after Guantanamo opened, with Osama bin Laden dead, and we see Congress coming anew with this effort to re-militarize the struggle against terrorism,” said Heather Hurlburt, the executive director of the National Security Network, noting that the civilian justice system has won convictions of more than 400 terrorists, while the military system has tallied just six.
The Best Defense: Protecting America In An Age Of Austerity
The Center for National Policy hosted a discussion with Lawrence Korb, Spencer Ackerman and National Security Network Executive Director Heather Hurlburt about what might come next after Secretary of Defense and former CNP Chairman Leon Panetta has issued new Strategic Guidance that promises to redefine the mission and means of how best to protect American [...]
