Richard Downie

Dr. Richard Downie is Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies at the Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the Boards of the World Hwa Rang Do Association, Westport Construction Incorporated, and is a member of the Faculty of Missouri State University Defense and Strategic Studies Program, as well as the Thayer Leader Development Group at the United States Military Academy.

Dr. Downie is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Following his career in the U.S. Army, he held senior defense and academic leadership roles. For nine years, he served as Director of the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies in Washington, D.C., shaping security and defense cooperation across the Western Hemisphere. He is also the former President & CEO of both the Los Angeles World Affairs Council–and previously, the World Affairs Council of Orange County.

Dr. Downie is a frequent media commentator on global and hemispheric security issues, appearing on CNN/Español, Univision, Telemundo, Bloomberg, NPR, NTN24, and other international outlets.

He currently teaches in the USC M.A. in Global Security Studies Program.

Ph.D., International Relations, University of Southern California
M.A., International Relations, University of Southern California
B.S., Political Science, United States Military Academy, West Point
Seminar XXI Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology