Anthony Lake

Former Carnegie Council Trustee

Anthony Lake was the sixth executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF), bringing to the position more than 45 years of public service. During his career, Lake has worked with leaders and policy makers across the world. In 2007–2008, he served as a senior foreign policy adviser to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, a role he also performed during the Clinton presidential campaign of 1991–1992.

He has taught at Amherst and Mount Holyoke Colleges. He is the author of 6 Nightmares (2000), Somoza Falling (1989), The "Tar Baby" Option: American Policy Toward Southern Rhodesia (1976), and co-author of Our Own Worst Enemy: The Unmaking of American Foreign Policy (1984). More recently he served as the U.S. Special Envoy to Ethiopia and Eritrea. He is on the boards of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, Freedom House, and The Marshall Legacy Institute, as well as on the international advisory committee of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Featured Work

6 Nightmares: The Real Threats to American Security . . . by Anthony Lake

JAN 21, 2001 Transcript

Six Nightmares: Real Threats in a Dangerous World and How America Can Meet Them

Anthony Lake argues that the United States cannot afford to be lax about its security in a world plagued by episodes of high terrorism and ...

MAY 12, 1998 Article

Morgenthau Lecture: Directions in U.S. Foreign Policy: Interests and Ideals

More people are living in democracies, thanks in large part to globalization, says Anthony Lake, but there has also been an erosion of national sovereignty.