Arturo Valenzuela is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and founder of the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He previously served as Full Professor of Political Science at Duke University and Director of the Council on Latin American Studies at that university. He has been a visiting professor at the universities of Oxford, Sussex, Florence, Chile, Catholic University of Chile, and FLACSO Mexico. He was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. After completing his secondary education at the Alliance Française in Concepción, Chile, he earned a B.A. summa cum laude from Drew University in Madison, N.J., and his Master’s and Doctorate in Political Science from Columbia University in New York City.
During his first term, President Barack Obama appointed him Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the State Department, a position he held until September 1, 2011. In that role, he was responsible for leading U.S. diplomacy in the Americas. During President William Clinton’s second term (1999-2000), he served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs on the White House National Security Council, advising the President on foreign policy, defense, and intelligence issues related to the countries of the Americas. During President Clinton’s first administration (1994-1996), he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the State Department, where he was responsible for formulating and implementing U.S. foreign policy toward Mexico. For his diplomatic contributions, he has been awarded the highest honors by the King of Spain and the presidents of Brazil and Colombia, as well as by the Central American Integration System (SICA). He has been featured in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, and Who’s Who in American Higher Education.
Dr. Valenzuela is a specialist in the origins and consolidation of democratic processes, electoral systems, civil-military relations, political parties, and relations between the United States and Latin America. He has lectured at universities in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He is the author or co-author of nine books, including El Quiebre de la Democracia en Chile (The Breakdown of Democracy in Chile) and Una Nación de Enemigos: Chile Bajo Pinochet (A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet). With Juan J. Linz, he published The Failure of Presidential Democracy, and with Scott Mainwaring, Politics, Society and Democracy: Latin America. He has written dozens of academic articles in specialized journals such as Comparative Politics, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, Estudios Públicos and Latin American Research Review. He has been a member of the editorial board of Journal of Democracy, Latin American Research Review, Current History, Amérique Latine, The Third World Quarterly, Revista Latinoamericana de Política Comparada, Foreign Policy Bulletin and others.
Dr. Valenzuela was a member of Repsol’s International Advisory Board in Madrid and served as Director of CorpBanca in Chile. He was also a Director of the National Council of La Raza (now UnidosUS), Drew University, and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Santiago College in Santiago, Chile, and the Advisory committees Of America’s Watch, Freedom House, and the Institute des Ameriques in Paris. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, the American Academy of Diplomacy, and academic societies. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee and as a consultant on constitutional and electoral reform issues in Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico and Colombia. Upon retiring from Georgetown University in 2014, he joined the law firm Covington & Burling LLP as an international advisor, working with the firm’s offices in various countries around the world. He left that position in 2020 and was a member of the Board of Directors of Luminate, an organization belonging to the Omidyar Network, a Philanthropic organization that supports human rights and the consolidation of democracy.
Dr. Valenzuela has participated as a speaker and panelist in international forums such as the World Economic Forum, Growth Net (New Delhi), the Latin American Business Council (CEAL), the Latin American Federation of Banks (FELABAN), the Latin American Iron and Steel Institute (ILAFA), the Mexico Business Summit, and others. His Television appearances include ABC’s Nightline, NBC’s Today Show, the Public Broadcasting System’s News Hour, CNN, CBS Evening News, Univision, Telemundo, National Public Radio, C-Span, BBC London, France Inter, Al Jazeera, and current affairs programs in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and other countries in Latin America and Europe. He has been Co-host of the program Choque de Opiniones on CNN en español. His opinion articles have appeared in major Newspapers in the United States and Europe, and in the newspapers of the Grupo de Diarios de Las Américas. He was a regular columnist for El Universal in Mexico City.
