Formal headshot of Tom Fingar

Thomas Fingar, PhD

  • Shorenstein APARC Fellow
  • Affiliated Scholar at the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions

Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Stanford University
Encina Hall, C-327
Stanford, CA 94305-6055

(650) 723-9149 (voice)
(650) 723-6530 (fax)

Biography

Thomas Fingar is a Shorenstein APARC Fellow in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He was the inaugural Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow from 2010 through 2015 and the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford in 2009.

From 2005 through 2008, he served as the first deputy director of national intelligence for analysis and, concurrently, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Fingar served previously as assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (2000-01 and 2004-05), principal deputy assistant secretary (2001-03), deputy assistant secretary for analysis (1994-2000), director of the Office of Analysis for East Asia and the Pacific (1989-94), and chief of the China Division (1986-89). Between 1975 and 1986 he held a number of positions at Stanford University, including senior research associate in the Center for International Security and Arms Control.

Fingar is a graduate of Cornell University (A.B. in Government and History, 1968), and Stanford University (M.A., 1969 and Ph.D., 1977 both in political science). His most recent books are From Mandate to Blueprint: Lessons from Intelligence Reform (Stanford University Press, 2021), Reducing Uncertainty: Intelligence Analysis and National Security (Stanford University Press, 2011), The New Great Game: China and South and Central Asia in the Era of Reform, editor (Stanford University Press, 2016), Uneasy Partnerships: China and Japan, the Koreas, and Russia in the Era of Reform (Stanford, 2017), and Fateful Decisions: Choices that will Shape China’s Future, co-edited with Jean Oi (Stanford, 2020). His most recent article is, "The Role of Intelligence in Countering Illicit Nuclear-Related Procurement,” in Matthew Bunn, Martin B. Malin, William C. Potter, and Leonard S Spector, eds., Preventing Black Market Trade in Nuclear Technology (Cambridge, 2018)."

publications

Books
May 2020

Fateful Decisions: Choices That Will Shape China's Future

Author(s)
cover link Fateful Decisions: Choices That Will Shape China's Future
Books
June 2017

Office of the Director of National Intelligence: From Pariah and Piñata to Managing Partner

Author(s)
cover link Office of the Director of National Intelligence: From Pariah and Piñata to Managing Partner
Books
April 2017

Uneasy Partnerships: China’s Engagement with Japan, the Koreas, and Russia in the Era of Reform

Author(s)
cover link Uneasy Partnerships: China’s Engagement with Japan, the Koreas, and Russia in the Era of Reform

Current research

In The News

Xi and Biden
Q&As

Biden, Xi Will Want To Diminish Exaggerated Characterizations of Bilateral Friction, Stanford Scholar Says

In this Q&A, Stanford scholar Thomas Fingar discusses what to expect when President Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
cover link Biden, Xi Will Want To Diminish Exaggerated Characterizations of Bilateral Friction, Stanford Scholar Says
Ancient and modern buildings in Beijing.
Q&As

China’s Incentives to Work Within the U.S.-led International Order Remain Compelling, Argues Thomas Fingar

In a video Q&A, Fingar discusses the challenges for the U.S.-China relationship and the principles that shape China’s foreign policy and international behavior.
cover link China’s Incentives to Work Within the U.S.-led International Order Remain Compelling, Argues Thomas Fingar

Selected Multimedia