Richard Felix Staar
Encyclopedia
Richard Felix Staar is an American political scientist and historian
. He holds a position of senior fellow at Stanford University
's Hoover Institution
. His areas of specialization include Russia
and East-Central Europe
(former Soviet Union
, post-Soviet states
and the Eastern Bloc
), military strategy
, national security
, arms control
, and public diplomacy
. He is an author of numerous books and articles.
From 1981 to 1983, he was the U.S. Ambassador
to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions
(MBFR) negotiations in Vienna, Austria. He has been a research specialist for the U.S. State Department, visiting professor at the National War College
, and is a retired colonel
in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. In 1983, at the age of 60, he was awarded the presidential Legion of Merit
.
The Sarmatian Review
, in a review of his book Born Under A Lucky Star: Reminiscences, said of him: "As associate director of the Hoover Institution for a critical twelve years, he helped make that organization serve the Soviet-slaying purpose for which its founder had endowed it."
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
. He holds a position of senior fellow at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
's Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
. His areas of specialization include Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and East-Central Europe
East-Central Europe
East-Central Europe – a term defining the countries located between German-speaking countries and Russia. Those lands are described as situated “between two”: between two worlds, between two stages, between two futures...
(former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, post-Soviet states
Post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
and the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
), military strategy
Military strategy
Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired strategic goals. Derived from the Greek strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops...
, national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
, arms control
Arms control
Arms control is an umbrella term for restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction...
, and public diplomacy
Public diplomacy
In international relations, public diplomacy or people's diplomacy, broadly speaking, is the communication with foreign publics to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influence. There is no one definition of Public Diplomacy, and may be easier described than easily defined as definitions...
. He is an author of numerous books and articles.
From 1981 to 1983, he was the U.S. Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to the Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions
Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions
The Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions talks were a series of negotiations held in Vienna between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries between 1973 and 1989.-Origins:...
(MBFR) negotiations in Vienna, Austria. He has been a research specialist for the U.S. State Department, visiting professor at the National War College
National War College
The National War College of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. It was officially established on July 1, 1946, as an upgraded replacement for the...
, and is a retired colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. In 1983, at the age of 60, he was awarded the presidential Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
.
The Sarmatian Review
Sarmatian Review
Sarmatian Review is an English language peer reviewed academic journal on the Slavistics published by Polish Institute of Houston at Rice University three times a year in January, April, and September...
, in a review of his book Born Under A Lucky Star: Reminiscences, said of him: "As associate director of the Hoover Institution for a critical twelve years, he helped make that organization serve the Soviet-slaying purpose for which its founder had endowed it."
External links
- Richard F. Staar, biography at the Hoover Institution
- James R. Thompson, Review of Born Under A Lucky Star: Reminiscences, memoirs by Staar
- Staar, Richard Felix 1923– at WorldCat identities