Peter DeShazo

Peter DeShazo is director of the Americas Program at CSIS. Before joining CSIS in 2004, he was a member of the career U.S. senior foreign service, serving as deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs and deputy U.S. permanent representative to the Organization of American States. During his foreign service career, Ambassador DeShazo directed the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs of the State Department and was director of Western Hemisphere affairs at the U.S. Information Agency. He served in U.S. embassies and consulates in La Paz, Medellin, Santiago, Panama City, Caracas, and Tel Aviv.

DeShazo holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in Latin American history from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, with postgraduate study at the Universidad Catolica de Chile. He is the author of books and articles in academic and foreign affairs journals. He teaches at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Himself a former Fulbright scholar, Dr. DeShazo was president of the U.S.-Chile Fulbright Commission. He is frequently interviewed by leading U.S. and international media on topics related to the Americas and U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere.