Rachel Bronson, a leading expert on U.S. national security and foreign policy in the Middle East and author of Thicker than Oil: America's Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia, joined The Chicago Council on Global Affairs as the Vice President of Programs and Studies in January 2007. She brings a wealth of diverse international and foreign policy-related experience to her new role at the Council.

Bronson will help develop and oversee all of The Chicago Council’s programmatic efforts, such as the Global Chicago Center, the India and China roundtables, the young professionals and emerging leaders program, and the forthcoming release of the task force report on engaging American Muslim communities more fully in the national discourse on U.S. foreign policy.

Prior to joining The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Bronson served as a senior fellow and director of Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Her other positions include senior fellow for International Security Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and adjunct professor at Columbia University. 

In addition to writing for publications such as Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune, Bronson has commented widely on foreign affairs for outlets such as CNN, Fox News, BBC, and al-Jazeera, and has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.  She also has testified before the Congressional Anti-Terrorist Finance Task Force, Congress’s Joint Economic Committee, and the 9/11 Commission. 

Bronson earned a B.A. in history at the University of Pennsylvania and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. Her well-received book, Thicker than Oil, was published by Oxford University Press in May 2006.