Paul Heer

About Paul Heer

Paul Heer served for 30 years as a specialist on East Asian affairs in the US intelligence community. He served on the staff of the President's daily brief and as a member of the senior analytic service at the Central Intelligence Agency prior to becoming the national intelligence officer for East Asia, a position he held from 2007 to 2015. He was a Visiting Intelligence Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations during 1999-2000, and was elected a Life Member of CFR in 2001. He was the Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow at MIT's Center for International Studies during 2015-2016, and later served as Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. 

Heer is a recipient of the CIA's Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal and the DNI's National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal. He holds a bachelor of arts from Loras College, a master of arts in history from the University of Iowa, and a PhD in diplomatic history from The George Washington University. His book, Mr. X and the Pacific: George Kennan and American Policy in East Asia, was published in 2018.