# Richard Felix Staar

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American political scientist and historian (1923–2018)

Richard Felix Staar Born (1923-01-10)January 10, 1923 Warsaw, Poland Died March 27, 2018(2018-03-27) (aged 95) Portola Valley, California Citizenship USA Occupations political scientist and historian Academic work Notable works Yearbook on International Communist Affairs

**Richard Felix Staar** (January 10, 1923 – March 27, 2018) was an American [political scientist](/source/Political_scientist) and [historian](/source/Historian). He held a position of senior fellow at [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University)'s [Hoover Institution](/source/Hoover_Institution).[1] His areas of specialization included [Russia](/source/Russia) and [East-Central Europe](/source/East-Central_Europe) (former [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union), [post-Soviet states](/source/Post-Soviet_states) and the [Eastern Bloc](/source/Eastern_Bloc)), [military strategy](/source/Military_strategy), [national security](/source/National_security), [arms control](/source/Arms_control), and [public diplomacy](/source/Public_diplomacy). He was an author of numerous books and articles.

Staar was born in [Warsaw, Poland](/source/Warsaw%2C_Poland), in 1923. He graduated from [Dickinson College](/source/Dickinson_College) in 1948 and received a master's degree from [Yale University](/source/Yale_University) in 1949. Following his master's degree, he joined the [Central Intelligence Agency](/source/Central_Intelligence_Agency) as an intelligence officer, holding that position until 1950. In 1950 and 1951 he worked as a library assistant at the University of Michigan. Also in 1951, he joined the [U.S. Department of State](/source/U.S._Department_of_State) as an intelligence research specialist, a post he held until 1954, when he completed a Ph.D. in political science at the [University of Michigan](/source/University_of_Michigan).[2]

From 1954 to 1957, he served on the faculty of [Harding College](/source/Harding_College), moving to [Arkansas State College](/source/Arkansas_State_College) for one year (1957–58). In 1958 he went to [Munich, Germany](/source/Munich%2C_Germany), where he served for one year as chief of program analysis for [Radio Free Europe](/source/Radio_Free_Europe). He returned to the United States in 1959 to become a member of the faculty of [Emory University](/source/Emory_University), where he remained until 1969 when he joined the Hoover Institution.[2] There, he became the editor in chief of the *[Yearbook on International Communist Affairs](/source/Yearbook_on_International_Communist_Affairs)* from 1969 until 1991.[3][4][5]

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed him to the position of U.S. [Ambassador](/source/Ambassador) to the [Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions](/source/Mutual_and_Balanced_Force_Reductions) (MBFR) negotiations in [Vienna, Austria](/source/Vienna%2C_Austria), a position he held until resigning in 1983. He has also been a visiting professor at the [National War College](/source/National_War_College), and was a [colonel](/source/Colonel) in the [U.S. Marine Corps](/source/U.S._Marine_Corps) Reserve. In 1983, at the age of 60, he was awarded the presidential [Legion of Merit](/source/Legion_of_Merit).[1]

The *[Sarmatian Review](/source/Sarmatian_Review)*, in a review of his book *Born Under A Lucky Star: Reminiscences*, said of him: "As associate director of the Hoover Institution for a critical twelve years, he helped make that organization serve the Soviet-slaying purpose for which its founder had endowed it."[6]

He died on March 27, 2018.[7][8]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-HooverBio_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-HooverBio_1-1) ["Richard F. Staar, Senior Fellow"](https://web.archive.org/web/20091126181106/http://www.hoover.org/bios/staar.html). Hoover Institution. August 20, 2010. Archived from [the original](http://www.hoover.org/bios/staar.html) on November 26, 2009. Retrieved March 9, 2012.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Reagannomination_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Reagannomination_2-1) Ronald Reagan (September 10, 1981), [*Nomination of Richard F. Staar To Be United States Representative for Mutual and Balanced Force Reductions Negotiations*](http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=44228#axzz1oeroLtjM), Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-WorldCat_3-0)** *Yearbook on international communist affairs*. WorldCat. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [1680890](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/1680890).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-The_Slavonic_and_East_European_Review_1971_4-0)** Hanak, Harry (April 1971). "Yearbook on International Communist Affairs, 1968 by Richard V. Allen and Milorad Popov". *[The Slavonic and East European Review](/source/The_Slavonic_and_East_European_Review)*. **49** (115). the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and East European Studies: 323. [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [4206404](https://www.jstor.org/stable/4206404).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-APSR_1978_5-0)** Gyorgy, Andrew (1978). ["1975 Yearbook on International Communist Affairs. Edited by Staar Richard F.. (Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, 1975. Pp. 678. $25.00.)"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/1975-yearbook-on-international-communist-affairs-edited-by-staar-richard-f-stanford-calif-hoover-institution-press-1975-pp-678-2500/021714CFDAD17F3EB5AE3F1D16E6DEAD). *[American Political Science Review](/source/American_Political_Science_Review)*. **72** (2): 819. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2307/1954276](https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1954276). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [1954276](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1954276). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [147472919](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:147472919). Retrieved May 13, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** James R. Thompson. ["Born Under A Lucky Star: Reminiscences"](http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/903/233thom.html). Sarmatian Review. Retrieved July 19, 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Peters, Christina S. ["Richard Felix Staar: Jan. 10, 1923-March 27, 2018"](https://www.paloaltoonline.com/obituaries/memorials/richard-felix-staar?o=5573). *Palo Alto Online*. Retrieved September 26, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Parker, Clifton B. ["Richard F. Staar, Russian and Eastern European Scholar, Dies at 95"](https://www.hoover.org/news/richard-staar-dies). *hoover.org*. Hoover Institution. Retrieved September 26, 2018.

## External links

- James R. Thompson, [Review of Born Under A Lucky Star: Reminiscences](http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/903/233thom.html), memoirs by Staar

- [Staar, Richard Felix 1923–](http://orlabs.oclc.org/identities/lccn-n50-24376) at WorldCat identities

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