Douglas H. Paal

Who is Douglas H. Paal?

Douglas H. Paal is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he directs the endowment's Asia Program. He served as the director of the American Institute in Taiwan from 2002 to 2006 and worked on the National Security Council staffs of Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush between 1986 and 1993 as director of Asian Affairs, senior director, and special assistant to the President. He was vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase International from 2006 to 2008. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Asia Foundation.

Paal founded the Asia Pacific Policy Center in the mid-1990s, a non-profit research organization hosted conferences and published a few reports on issues related to U.S. policy in Asia. There were allegations that the organization "functioned less like a think tank than a high-end consultancy or even a lobbying firm. According to former employees, the center's work was almost entirely geared to servicing the needs of its governmental and corporate funders." The list of "'clients,' as they were apparently often called" included the government of Malaysia, which was thought to have given millions of dollars in contributions. The abuse of non-profit status was heavily discussed in the lead-up to Paal's nomination as director of AIT, and helped to delay his appointment.