Richard L. Morningstar

  • Founding Chairman, Global Energy Center
  • Former US Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan
  • Former US Ambassador to the European Union

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Energy & Environment Geopolitics & Energy Security Oil and Gas

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Europe & Eurasia
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Public Event Thu, March 14, 2024 • 4:30 pm ET

Reinforcing the transatlantic alliance through climate and energy cooperation
Climate Change & Climate Action Energy & Environment Geopolitics & Energy Security Russia
Public Event Mon, October 30, 2023 • 11:30 am ET

A fireside chat with Ditte Juul Jørgensen, Director-General for Energy at the European Commission
Energy & Environment Energy Transitions Europe & Eurasia Geopolitics & Energy Security
Public Event Mon, February 6, 2023 • 4:00 am ET

US-Romania spotlight: How transatlantic cooperation can advance energy security and decarbonization in the Black Sea region
Central Europe Climate Change & Climate Action Energy & Environment Europe & Eurasia
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New Atlanticist

Jul 30, 2015

Senators Make Case for Lifting Crude Oil Ban

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council report sees America’s energy abundance as an invaluable diplomatic tool A top Republican Senator, making the case that energy must be a significant tool in the US diplomatic toolkit, said July 30 that the United States will be “effectively sanctioning” domestic oil producers if it does not lift its ban on the export […]

Climate Change & Climate Action Energy & Environment

Event Recap

Jun 30, 2015

Climate Security: The Next ‘Battle Ground’?

By Global Energy Center

In honor of the European Union’s (EU) Climate Diplomacy Day on June 17, 2015, the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, in cooperation with the EU, hosted a discussion exploring the critical dynamic between climate change and global security. Panelists addressed the local and global actions that can be taken to reduce the stresses climate change […]

Climate Change & Climate Action Energy & Environment

Event Recap

Jun 8, 2015

The Renewable Energy Transition: The Impact on Climate Change, Energy Security, and Economic Development

By The Global Energy Center

On Monday, June 1, 2015 the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, in cooperation with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), hosted an event titled “The Renewable Energy Transition: The Impact on Climate Change, Energy Security, and Economic Development.” Panelists included Adnan Amin, Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency, Amos Hochstein, Special Envoy and Coordinator […]

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Richard L. Morningstar is the founding chairman of the Global Energy Center and a board director at the Atlantic Council. He served as the US ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan from July 2012 to August 2014.

Prior to his appointment, since April 2009, he was the Secretary of State’s special envoy for Eurasian energy. Prior to that, Morningstar lectured at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and Stanford Law School.

From June 1999 to September 2001, he served as United States ambassador to the European Union. Prior to this, Morningstar served as special adviser to the President and Secretary of State for Caspian Basin energy diplomacy, where he was responsible for assuring maximum coordination within the executive branch and with other governments and international organizations to promote United States policies on Caspian Basin energy development and transportation. From April 1995 to July 1998, he served as ambassador and special adviser to the President and Secretary of State on assistance for the new independent states of the former Soviet Union, where he oversaw all US bilateral assistance and trade investment activities in the NIS. From 1993 to 1995, he served as senior vice president of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

Morningstar also served as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Costar Corporation from 1990 to 1993 and as president and chief executive officer from 1981 to 1990. He was an attorney with Peabody and Brown (now Nixon and Peabody) in Boston from 1970 to 1981, where he became a partner in 1977.

Morningstar served as a commissioner of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (1989–1993). Prior to returning to the government in 2009, he served as director of the American Councils for International Education, a trustee of the Kosovo-America Educational Foundation, and a trustee of the Eurasia Foundation. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Morningstar received his BA from Harvard in 1967 and JD from Stanford Law School in 1970.