Heritage Expert

Nile Gardiner, Ph.D.

  • Director, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom

Nile Gardiner is Director of The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. 

His key areas of specialization include: the Anglo-American “special relationship,” the United Nations, post-war Iraq , and the role of Great Britain and Europe in the U.S.-led alliance against international terrorism and “rogue states,” including Iran . He was recently named one of the 50 most influential Britons in the United States by the London Daily Telegraph .

As a leading authority on transatlantic relations, Gardiner has advised the executive branch of the U.S. government on a range of key issues, from the role of international allies in post-war Iraq , to U.S.-British leadership in the War on Terrorism. His policy papers are read widely on Capitol Hill, where he is regularly sought after for advice on major foreign policy matters.

Gardiner has testified several times before Congress, and frequently briefs delegations of political leaders and journalists from across the world. He served as an expert on the 2005 Gingrich-Mitchell Congressional Task Force on the United Nations.

Prior to joining Heritage in 2002, Gardiner was Foreign Policy Researcher for former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Working in her Private Office, Gardiner assisted Lady Thatcher with her latest book, Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World , published by HarperCollins. He served as an aide to Lady Thatcher from 2000 to 2002, and advised her on a number of international policy issues.

Gardiner received his doctorate in history from Yale University , and was awarded several academic scholarships, including the International Security Studies Smith Richardson Foundation Fellowship, and the David Gimbel Fellowship. In addition, Gardiner has two master's degrees from Yale, and a master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in modern history from Oxford University. He has a broad range of international experience, and has lived in four continents: Europe, Africa, Asia and North America .

He appears frequently as a foreign policy analyst and political commentator on national and international television and radio, including Fox News Channel , CNN , BBC, Sky News, and NPR . He has made over 500 television appearances, and given more than 400 radio interviews, discussing foreign policy issues.

His media appearances include: “The O'Reilly Factor” (Fox News Channel), “NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS), “Good Morning America” (ABC), “NBC Nightly News,” “Hardball with Chris Matthews” (MSNBC), “Hannity & Colmes” (Fox), “Lou Dobbs Tonight” (CNN), “Anderson Cooper 360” (CNN), “Washington Journal” (C-SPAN), “The Situation Room” (CNN), “Fox and Friends” (FOX), “Special Report with Brit Hume” (Fox), “The Early Show” (CBS), “Studio B with Shepard Smith” (Fox), “Power Lunch” (CNBC), “Your World With Neil Cavuto” (Fox), “Big Story With John Gibson” (Fox), “Newsnight” (BBC), “GMTV” (ITV), “Sunday Live with Adam Boulton” (Sky News) “CBC News: Sunday” (CBC), “Today Programme”(BBC Radio 4), “The Diane Rehm Show'”(NPR), and “All Things Considered” (NPR).

Gardiner also has written for a number of leading publications including: The Wall Street Journal , The London Sunday Times, USA Today , The Washington Times, The Boston Globe , Suddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), The London Daily Telegraph, The New York Daily News , The Weekly Standard , National Review , and Human Events . He has been widely quoted in major U.S. and international media including The New York Times , The Washington Post , The Financial Times , The Los Angeles Times , International Herald Tribune , Le Figaro (France) , Reuters , Associated Press , The London Times , and The London Sunday Telegraph .

All Publications by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D.
  • Commentary posted January 8, 2010 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. A Conservative Vision for British Foreign Policy

    As Britain approaches a general election, likely to be held in March, every major poll points to a Conservative victory. The odds of Gordon Brown retaining the keys to 10 Downing Street look slim, and few would wager against the Tories. If he becomes prime minister, Conservative leader David… Read more

  • Commentary posted November 20, 2009 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. Obama Has Achieved Nothing on the World Stage

    No American president has spent more time abroad in his first year in office than Barack Obama. His trip to Asia this week is his 8th foreign tour, taking the total number of countries visited to 20. But what does the president have to show for all his gallivanting across… Read more

  • Commentary posted October 8, 2009 by Edwin Feulner, Ph.D. Defusing the Iranian Threat

    No wonder presidents seem to age so quickly -- dealing with the country's toughest problems every day takes its toll. Many of those problems seem almost insolvable. Look no further than Iran. Since its Islamic revolution in 1979, that country has bedeviled American presidents and presented us with mostly bad choices. And it keeps raising the… Read more

  • Commentary posted September 23, 2009 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. The UN Loves Barack Obama Because He is Weak

    A government takeover of the health care industry would facilitate widespread union organizing of health care workers. Many studies show that collective bargaining makes health care more expensive. Consequently, health care reform that includes a government-run option would cost more than the… Read more

  • Commentary posted September 22, 2009 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. The U.N.'s Anti-Israel Crusade Continues

    The United Nations has come up with yet another spectacularly biased report, this time 575 pages long, accusing Israel of "war crimes" in Gaza and "possibly crimes against humanity". The document also (far less forcefully) criticizes Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks against Israel, but the overwhelming emphasis is on Israel's actions. In… Read more

  • WebMemo posted September 3, 2009 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. President Obama Must Not Surrender to Russia on Missile Defense

    Reports in the Polish media strongly suggest that the Obama Administration is about to abandon its plans for "third site" missile defense installations in Poland and the Czech Republic.[1] Abandoning the third site would represent a huge turnaround in American strategic thinking on a global missile… Read more

  • Commentary posted August 5, 2009 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. No Negotiation with the Taliban

    There are clear signs that the Labour government in London has begun to build an exit strategy for Afghanistan based upon the premise of negotiations with so-called moderate elements of the Taliban. In the face of rising domestic opposition to the war, mounting casualties and a clear unwillingness on the part of European allies to… Read more

  • Commentary posted July 23, 2009 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. Barack Obama should become a Eurosceptic

    The media coverage of Barack Obama's visit to Moscow this week has overwhelmingly focused on the arms control deal struck with Dmitry Medvedev and his much-hyped pledge to reset relations with Moscow. Little attention has been paid however to the president's striking defence of the principle of… Read more

  • WebMemo posted July 17, 2009 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. The Invisible Secretary of State: Hillary Clinton's Failure of Leadership on the World Stage

    As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has been almost as elusive as the Scarlet Pimpernel. Her profile on the world stage has been significantly lower than that of her immediate predecessors, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, who were highly prominent figures in their first six months in office. In… Read more

  • Commentary posted June 3, 2009 by Nile Gardiner, Ph.D. Barack Obama should stop apologising for America

    No leader in American history has gone to greater lengths than Barack Obama to make amends for his own country. From condemnation of American "arrogance" in a speech in Strasbourg to acknowledging U.S. "mistakes" before millions of Muslims on Arab television, Obama has rarely missed an opportunity… Read more