Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations

Michael Pillsbury

Monday, February 4, 2013

Topic: A China Policy for the United States

Michael Pillsbury is a defense policy adviser, former government official and author of books and reports on China. Born in California in 1945, Pillsbury was educated at Stanford University (B.A. in History with Honors in Social Thought) and Columbia University (M.A., Ph.D.).

In 1969-1970 Pillsbury was the Assistant Political Affairs Officer at United Nations Headquarters, in 1971-72, he was a doctoral dissertation Fellow for the National Science Foundation in Taiwan, in 1973-1977, Pillsbury was an analyst at the Social Science Department at RAND, In 1978, Pillsbury was a research fellow at the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. During the Reagan administration, Dr. Pillsbury was the Assistant Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning and responsible for implementation of the program of covert aid known as theReagan Doctrine.

In 1975-76, while an analyst at The RAND Corporation, Pillsbury published articles in Foreign Policy and International Security recommending that the United States establish intelligence and military ties with China. The proposal, publicly commended by Ronald Reagan, Henry Kissinger, and James Schlesinger, later became U.S. policy during the administrations of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

Pillsbury served on the staff of four U.S. Senate Committees from 1978-1984 and 1986-1991. As a staff member, Pillsbury drafted the Senate Labor Committee version of the legislation that enacted the U.S. Institute of Peace in 1984. He also assisted in drafting the legislation to create the National Endowment for Democracy and the annual requirement for a DOD report on Chinese Military Power.