Thomas J. Reckford is Vice Chairman of the World Affairs Council of Washington, D.C. and a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A pioneer in applying the techniques of political risk analysis and country assessment to the business world, he is also the regional director for East Asia at the National Leadership Forum on Global Challenges. Mr. Reckford has been a senior international analyst with the Eaton Corporation, a vice president of InterMatrix Incorporated, a senior advisor to the Government Research Corporation, and an expert consultant to the Department of Commerce.

Before entering business, Mr. Reckford served in the Office of National Estimates at the Central Intelligence Agency, in the Commission on the Organization of the Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy, and in U.S. Army Intelligence in France and Germany. A Harvard graduate (magna cum laude in history), Mr. Reckford has taught political risk analysis at Georgetown University. A former director of the Council on International Business Risk Management, he currently serves on the advisory committee of the Asia Society's Washington Center. He is co-author of Building ASEAN: 20 Years of Southeast Asian Cooperation (Praeger, 1987).