Zoltan Feher (diplomat-scholar)

Zoltan Feher (born January 7, 1977) is a Hungarian diplomat-scholar and political scientist living in the United States. He served as the Chief Creative Officer of the Hungarian Embassy in Washington DC, and as Hungary's Acting Ambassador in Turkey. He is an adjunct lecturer at the Political Science Department at Tufts University, and a Research Fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. In 2020-2021, he is a World Politics & Statecraft Fellow with the Smith Richardson Foundation. Feher serves as the Chair of the Editorial Board of the International Mediation, Global Business, and Global Affairs Scholarly Depository established by the New Jersey City University (NJCU) Institute for Dispute Resolution (IDR).
Education
Feher graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School with a Master in Public Administration. In addition, he holds Master’s degrees in Political Science and American Studies from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and a Law degree (JD) from Pázmány Catholic University, Budapest.
Diplomatic career
Feher served in the Hungarian government for 12 years as a professional diplomat.
In 2005-2009, he worked as foreign policy analyst, chief creative officer, and spokesperson for the Hungarian Embassy in Washington DC. As The Daily Iowan commented, "Fehér, a chief creative officer and press attaché for more than three years, is a practitioner of 'creative diplomacy,' a blend between public relations and politics. His techniques have helped raise the profile of the Hungarian Embassy as well as end the perception that diplomatic relations remains a 'behind-closed-doors' operation... Dubbed 'the rising star of transatlantic diplomatic relations,' Fehér has earned a reputation based on his ability to seize opportunity as it comes."
Upon his farewell from the American capital, The Washington Times described him as "one of the best diplomatic press secretaries on Embassy Row." Carlos Gutierrez, the Secretary of Commerce under the Bush administration "praised Mr. Feher for his efforts to promote strong U.S.-Hungary ties."
From 2009 to 2011, he revived the work of the Young Diplomats Club in Budapest and served as its President.
He served as the Secretary of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission of Hungary and the Main Organizer of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commemorations in Hungary in June 2011 and a Co-Organizer of the Trans-Atlantic Week. The events featured U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Reagan's Attorney General Ed Meese, and two bipartisan Congressional delegations.
He was Hungary’s Deputy Ambassador (2011-2014) and Acting Ambassador (2012, 2014) in Turkey.
His work and achievements have been written on in The Washington Times, The Daily Iowan, Washington Life, Washington Diplomat, Diplomatic Pouch, CBS News, The Georgetowner, Népszabadság, Diplomat Magazine, Fraternity Magazine, Forbes Magazine and Ankara Scene.
Academic research and teaching
Since 2002, Feher has conducted research and taught courses in diplomacy and international relations. In his research, he has focused on the global balance of power, US foreign policy and grand strategy, Trans-Atlantic relations, Central and Eastern Europe, China and Turkey.
He has taught at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Summer School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Fletcher School, Ivy League Summer Institute (Harvard Law School), Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest), King Sigismund Business School, and in the joint program of Pázmány Catholic University of Hungary and the University of San Francisco. In 2016, he worked as a teaching assistant to Joseph Nye at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Fehér is also an expert in geopolitical risk, working with Duco Advisors, GlobalWonks, and companies in the financial sector. In 2017-2019, he served as the Co-Chair of the Fletcher Political Risk Conference, the only political risk industry forum in North America.
Fehér's research at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, focuses on how U.S. strategy facilitated China’s rise in 1969-2019 in spite of shifts in the global balance of power. He has studied with leading scholars of his field, including Joseph Nye, Stephen Walt, Niall Ferguson, Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr., Monica Toft, and Richard Rosecrance. He has been the recipient of the Vali Scholarship (Harvard Kennedy School), Bradley Fellowship, Provost Fellowship and Graduate Competitive Initiative Fellowship (Tufts University), among other awards.
As of June 2020, Feher serves as the Chair of the Editorial Board of the International Mediation, Global Business, and Global Affairs Scholarly Depository established by the New Jersey City University (NJCU) Institute for Dispute Resolution (IDR).
Selected publications
* Global Security Review May 26, 2020
* The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs April 6, 2017
* The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs March 2017
* (co-author), Centre for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy July 2016
* In: Tibor Frank (ed.): From Provinces to Empire. Gondolat, 2007. pp 205-226. (book chapter)
* , 2005/2-3. pp. 83-92.
* Hungarian Review of Political Science 2002/3-4.

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