 Dr. James A. Schear was appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Partnership Strategy and Stability Operations) on April 27, 2009. A member of the policy team in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict and Interdependent Capabilities), Dr. Schear advises the Department’s leadership on all matters pertaining to stabilization and reconstruction operations, foreign disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, international peacekeeping efforts and non-combatant evacuations. He also oversees the Department’s efforts to assist foreign partners in their efforts to bolster stability within regions threatened by conflict or extremist violence.
Prior to assuming his current duties, Dr. Schear served as Director of Research at the National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS). He directed the Institute’s analytic work in the areas of regional studies, national security strategy, defense planning, strategic concept development and counter-terrorism/transnational threats. From 1997-2001, Dr. Schear served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Affairs. In November 1999, he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service for his efforts during the Kosovo crisis.
A widely-published scholar in the fields of international security and conflict management, Dr. Schear has held research appointments at Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and the Stimson Center. From 1984-87, he served as Executive Officer of the Aspen Strategy Group. During 1991, he assisted the United Nations Secretariat in planning for the implementation of the Gulf War cease-fire resolutions, and he served as an advisor to the leadership of UN missions in Cambodia and former Yugoslavia from 1992-5. During 2007 he served as a principal member of the Afghanistan Study Group co-chaired by General James L. Jones (USMC, ret.) and Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering.
Dr. Schear earned his Ph.D. at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. from American University’s School of International Service.
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