Steven Schrage

Steven Schrage holds the Scholl Chair in International Business at CSIS. His experience spans senior positions with the U.S. State Department, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the G-8, major presidential campaigns, and key roles for congressional committees and senior leadership. He has also worked on international business issues in several private-sector positions, including at several major international law firms.

Mr. Schrage formerly served as deputy assistant secretary of state and acting assistant secretary under Colin Powell. During that time, he was selected by the White House and the State Department to lead major multilateral efforts among the United States' top allies in the G-8 as the cochair of the G-8’s Anti-Crime and Terrorism Group. While at the State Department, he managed more than $2 billion in global assistance funding for projects including critical civilian security efforts in Iraq, Latin America, Asia, Europe, Africa, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, where he led efforts that trained more than 27,000 police officers and helped secure Afghanistan’s historic election of President Hamid Karzai. Previously, Mr. Schrage served in the White House office of the U.S. trade representative (USTR). He was the first senior official placed in the USTR in 2001, and later served under USTR Robert Zoellick. Additionally, Mr. Schrage was international trade counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee (which initiates all U.S. trade legislation) and chief foreign policy counsel for the third-ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has also held positions with both House and Senate leadership members. Most recently, Mr. Schrage served as foreign policy and trade director for the 2008 presidential campaign of former Massachusetts governor and Bain Capital founder Mitt Romney. Mr. Schrage is an honors graduate of Duke University and the University of Michigan Law School, and conducted MBA and doctoral studies at Harvard Business School, where he earned distinction (honors) for his doctoral work prior to his return to public service in 2000.