Currently, Runde is the senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and holds the William A. Schreyer Chair in Global Analysis.

He has chaired the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid at USAID (2018–2021), which coordinates relations between the U.S. government and private voluntary organizations (PVOs) engaged in relief, rehabilitation, and development abroad, and the EXIM Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee (2019–2022), which helps guide the development and implementation of policies and programs designed to promote EXIM's engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Runde is often cited an expert on international political affairs and an advocate of American leadership in global economic development.

On November 3, 2022, at a ceremony at the official residence, Brazilian Ambassador Nestor Forster Jr. awarded the Order of Rio Branco to Mr. Runde.

WNISEF was an investor in Horizon Capital “HCGF IV” Fund and Runde met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv for the official signing ceremony on April 28, 2023.

HCGF IV is “the first growth capital and largest fund raised since the onset of the full-fledged invasion.” Runde currently serves on the board of Spirit of America and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

At the USAID, he led the GDA partnership initiative by providing training, networks, staff, funds, and advice to establish and strengthen alliances.

[6] In 2007, Runde joined the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, the IFC, where he was the head of the Foundations Unit for the Department of Partnerships and Advisory Service Operations.

[8] In November 2017, Runde also testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, where he emphasized the role of development finance and U.S. federal agencies like United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in securing American leadership in Asia.

Runde serves as the chairperson for the international assistance working group within the John Hay Initiative (JHI), a network of foreign policy experts who have briefed or are advising many of the Republican candidates in the 2016 presidential election.

He has also authored the international assistance chapter in the JHI Book Choosing to Lead: American Foreign Policy for a Disordered World.