William P. Ruger

Ruger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William & Mary and a PhD in politics from Brandeis University. Ruger fought in the War in Afghanistan as a member of the United States Navy Reserve.{{Cite web |title=Trump nominates war skeptic as ambassador to Afghanistan |url=https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/trump-nominates-war-skeptic-as-ambassador-to-afghanistan-1.644662 |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=Stars and Stripes}}{{Cite web |last=Vella |first=Lauren |date=2020-09-10 |title=Overnight Defense: Trump announces new US ambassador to Afghanistan {{!}} Pentagon officially withdraws plan to end 'Stars and Stripes' {{!}} Biden says Trump doesn't understand national security, intel officials 'don't trust' him |url=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/overnights/515963-overnight-defense-trump-announces-new-us-ambassador-to-afghanistan |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=TheHill |language=en}}

Ruger worked as a professor of political science at Texas State University and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.{{Cite web |title=William P. Ruger, Charles Koch Institute's schedule for 26th SPN Annual Meeting |url=https://26thspnannualmeeting2018.sched.com/speaker/william_p_ruger_charles_koch_institute.1yhfuuwm |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=26thspnannualmeeting2018.sched.com}}

Prior to joining the Trump administration, Ruger served as vice president for research and policy at the Charles Koch Institute from 2014 to 2019 and as vice president for foreign policy at Stand Together from 2019 to 2022.{{Cite news |last=Gage |first=Beverly |date=2019-09-10 |title=The Koch Foundation Is Trying to Reshape Foreign Policy. With Liberal Allies. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/10/magazine/charles-koch-foundation-education.html,%20https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/10/magazine/charles-koch-foundation-education.html |access-date=2020-09-19 |issn=0362-4331}} From 2022 to April 2025 he served as the president of the American Institute for Economic Research.{{Cite web |title=William Ruger {{!}} AIER |url=https://www.aier.org/staffs/william-ruger/ |access-date=2022-07-07 |website=www.aier.org |date=February 4, 2022 |language=en-US}}

He has served on the Board of Directors for the Center for the National Interest{{Cite web |title=Board of Directors – Center for the National Interest |url=https://cftni.org/about/board-of-directors/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=cftni.org}} and the board of American Conservative Magazine. He is also a non-resident senior fellow at Defense Priorities.{{Cite web |last=Day |first=Andrew |date=2025-04-16 |title=Longtime Restrainer Gets Top Intelligence Role |url=https://www.theamericanconservative.com/longtime-restrainer-gets-top-intelligence-role/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=The American Conservative |language=en-US}}

In September 2020, Ruger was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan.{{Cite web |title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate the Following Individual to a Key Administration Post |url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-intent-nominate-following-individual-key-administration-post-091020/ |access-date=2020-09-19 |via=National Archives |work=whitehouse.gov |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Ballhaus |first=Rebecca |date=2020-09-04 |title=WSJ News Exclusive {{!}} Trump Expected to Nominate a New Ambassador to Afghanistan |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-expected-to-nominate-a-new-ambassador-to-afghanistan-11599165975 |access-date=2020-09-19 |issn=0099-9660}} Prior to his nomination, Ruger had advocated for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.{{Cite web |last=Gramer |first=Jack Detsch, Robbie |title=Will Trump's Troop Drawdown Plans Destabilize Iraq and Afghanistan (Again)? |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/10/will-trumps-troop-drawdown-plans-destabilize-iraq-and-afghanistan-again/ |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=Foreign Policy |date=September 10, 2020 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Ruger |first=William |date=2020-05-28 |title=President Trump Is Right On Afghanistan |url=https://nationalinterest.org/feature/president-trump-right-afghanistan-158256 |access-date=2020-09-19 |website=The National Interest |language=en}} Ruger has been associated with the foreign policy realism movement.{{Cite web |title=Why U.S. Foreign Policy Isn't Making America Safer |url=https://kennedy.byu.edu/events/why-u-s-foreign-policy-isnt-making-america-safer/ |access-date=2020-09-19 |language=en-US}} On January 3, 2021, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate.{{Cite web |date=2021-01-03 |title=PN2234 - Nomination of William Ruger for Department of State, 116th Congress (2019-2020) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/116th-congress/2234 |access-date=2021-01-06 |website=www.congress.gov}}

Ruger is known among foreign policy circles as Realist. Ruger supported U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan during the first Trump and Biden administrations.{{Cite web |last=Nichols |first=Hans |date=2025-04-11 |title=Scoop: Gabbard installs skeptic of military action against Iran to key intel job |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/04/11/gabbard-iran-ruger-trump-intel-briefing |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Axios |language=en}} He is a skeptic of U.S. military and financial support for Ukraine following the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. In June 2023, Ruger delivered a keynote lecture urging a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium Peace Forum in Budapest, Hungary.{{Cite web |date=2023-06-13 |title=The US Foreign Policy and the Challenge of War in Ukraine |url=https://www.mcc.ro/en/article/the-us-foreign-policy-and-the-challenge-of-war-in-ukraine |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=www.mcc.ro |language=en}} In 2024 Ruger co-organized a letter opposing the admission of Ukraine into NATO.{{Cite web |last=Berg |first=Matt |date=2024-07-03 |title=Ukraine ‘bridge’ to NATO could be dangerous, experts warn |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/03/ukraine-bridge-nato-dangerous-00166537 |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}

File:William Ruger.jpg Peace Forum in June 2023.]]

During the 2024 presidential election, Ruger endorsed the selection of JD Vance as Donald Trump's running mate, arguing that this choice was a repudiation of the neoconservative wing of the Republican Party.{{Cite web |last=Heilbrunn |first=Jacob |date=2024-07-17 |title=With Vance Selection, Trump Doubles Down on America First |url=https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/07/17/with-vance-selection-trump-doubles-down-on-america-first/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Washington Monthly |language=en-US}} He is listed as a foreign policy advisor to Project 2025.{{Cite news |last=Shao |first=Elena |last2=Wu |first2=Ashley |date=2024-10-22 |title=The Many Links Between Project 2025 and Trump’s World |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/22/us/politics/project-2025-trump-heritage-foundation.html |access-date=2025-04-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Ruger is a supporter of Trump's tariff policies, saying in a statement to the press that the President is "rightly putting Americans first" by "making sure that our trade policies don’t undermine our national security needs while getting tough on countries with unfair trade practices."{{Cite web |last=Bellow |first=Heather |date=2025-04-17 |title=Great Barrington resident tapped by Trump administration for top national intelligence post |url=https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/southern_berkshires/william-ruger-trump-national-intelligence-aier/article_095789ce-19c2-4cce-bbf8-a9d59c90f3c0.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=The Berkshire Eagle}}

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Category:American political scientists

Category:Brandeis University alumni

Category:College of William & Mary alumni

Category:Living people

Category:United States Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:People_from_Great_Barrington,_Massachusetts

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