Suzanne DiMaggio is long-time analyst of U.S. Foreign Policy in Asia and the Middle East and a leading practitioner of Track II diplomacy. Her work is especially focused on U.S. relations with Iran and North Korea.
DiMaggio's mother was Japanese and her father Italian.[1] DiMaggio has a B.A. in international business from New York University and an M.A. in international relations from City College of New York (CUNY).[2]
From 1993-98, she was a program officer at the United Nations University. From 1998-2007, DiMaggio was the vice president of Policy Programs at the United Nations Association of the United States.[3] In 2002, she began facilitating a high-level dialogue with European states, Iran, and the United States.[4]
From 2007-14, she was the vice president of Global Policy Programs at the Asia Society. From 2014-2018, DiMaggio was a senior fellow at New America (organization) (2014-2018).[5]
DiMaggio is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She directs the U.S.-Iran Initiative and a U.S.-DPRK dialogue.[6] She is also an Associate Senior Fellow in the SIPRI Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation Programme.[7] DiMaggio also directs the IranProject.[8]
In 2017, when the Trump administration had limited contact with North Korea, one report described DiMaggio as "a de facto ambassador for the United States" to North Korea. She favored a diplomatic resolution rather than force-based and militarized pathways. She described her philosophy: “Negotiating with the enemy is extremely difficult, but it's not impossible.”[9]
DiMaggio is a co-founder and the former chair of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.[10] [11] A key aim, in her words, was "to push back on the mindset that leads to and facilitates endless war."[12]
DiMaggio resides in New York City's Greenwich Village with her husband, Ben Allison, and daughter. [13]