Brett D. Schaefer

Brett D. Schaefer is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where his research focuses on the United Nations and other international organizations, peacekeeping, and multilateral treaties.

Before joining AEI in 2025, Schaefer spent nearly three decades at the Heritage Foundation, ultimately serving as the Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs. His work there addressed the United Nations, foreign assistance, economic development, trade, and U.S. foreign policy.

Schaefer served as a member of the United Nations Committee on Contributions, which advises the General Assembly on allocating U.N. expenses among member states. He was also an expert on the U.N. Task Force for the United States Institute of Peace and served at the U.S. Department of Defense as assistant for International Criminal Court policy.

Schaefer has testified before Congress on international affairs and is the editor of “ConUNdrum: The Limits of the United Nations and the Search for Alternatives.”

Schaefer earned a master’s in international development from American University and a bachelor’s in anthropology from Florida State University.