Ted Piccone

Ted Piccone is a nonresident senior fellow working on issues of international order and strategy, global democracy and human rights, and Latin America in the Foreign Policy program at The Brookings Institution. He served as the program’s acting vice president and director from 2013 to 2014 and deputy director from 2008 to 2013. He is also an advisor with the Club de Madrid, the world’s largest forum of democratic heads of state and government, and currently directs its Global Commission on Democracy and Multilateralism (2025-26).  

Ted Piccone served eight years as a senior foreign policy advisor in the Clinton administration, including at the National Security Council, the State Department's Office of Policy Planning, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. From 2001 to 2008, Piccone was the executive director and co-founder of the Democracy Coalition Project, a research and advocacy organization working to promote international cooperation for democracy and human rights globally. Previous roles included counsel to the United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador and as a press secretary in the U.S. Congress.

Piccone has authored dozens of articles, chapters, opinion pieces, and books and made multiple media appearances on a range of foreign policy topics. His most recent book, "Five Rising Democracies and the Fate of the International Liberal Order", compares the foreign policy trajectories of India, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey and Indonesia. His book, "Catalysts for Change: How the UN’s Independent Experts Promote Human Rights", is read widely by experts involved in the international human rights system. He previously taught as an adjunct professor at the American University Washington College of Law.

Ted Piccone holds a law degree from Columbia University, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, and received a bachelor’s degree in history magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

Last updated: 2026