Founding President of the American Foreign Policy Council
In 1982, Herman Pirchner, Jr. became the founding President of the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC), a non-profit public policy organization headquartered in Washington, DC.
Under his leadership, AFPC has hosted Washington events for hundreds of foreign officials ranging from the Prime Minister of Malta to the Prime Minister of Russia; conducted hundreds of briefings for Members of Congress and their staffs; and organized dozens of fact-finding delegations abroad for former and aspiring cabinet and sub-cabinet officials.AFPC Fellows and staff regularly testify before Congress and frequently are found on the pages of major publications.
Mr. Pirchner’sworldwide travels have taken him to most areas of the world especially to the territory of the former Soviet Union, which he has visited more than 70 times since 1989, and China which he has visited annually since 1994.
Apart from his duties with the American Foreign Policy Council, Herman directed the National Security Team advising presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich’s 2012 campaign and later served on the State Department Presidential Transition Team in (2016-2017).
Prior to founding AFPC, Mr. Pirchnerserved as Legislative Director forSen. Roger Jepson (R-IA) and Legislative Assistantfornow Chairman of the U.S. Finance Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
Herman Pirchner serves on the Editorial Board of Demokratizatsiya. He is the autho rof numerous articles and a prescient 2005 book, Reviving Greater Russia(University Press of America). His most recent book, Post Putin: Succession, Stability, and Russia’s Future, was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2019.
Herman and his wife, Liz, live in Washington D.C.