Kenneth Lee Adelman (born June 9, 1946) is an American diplomat, political writer, policy analyst and Shakespeare scholar.

[3][4][5] Adelman was born to a Jewish family[6] and graduated from Grinnell College in Iowa, majoring in philosophy and religion.

Adelman began working for the federal government in 1969 at the U.S. Department of Commerce and then served in the Office of Economic Opportunity.

He strongly supported the war on Iraq and worked for the think tank Project for the New American Century, arguing for new policies to help the United States remain a global leader.

Adelman, called "a lifelong neocon activist", worried in 2006 that the incompetence shown in handling the war in Iraq would damage the neoconservative movement; neoconservatism, he said, "is not going to sell" for at least a generation.

Using the USA Innovations platform and through other published articles Adelman has attacked the Thai government for violating U.S. pharmaceutical industry HIV/AIDS drug intellectual property patents[9] and other topics linked to Edelman Public Relations clients.

In the later editorial, published just a few weeks after the invasion, he claimed his vindication and in particular praised key Bush administration players: "My confidence 14 months ago sprang from having worked for Don Rumsfeld three times—knowing he would fashion a most creative and detailed war plan—and from knowing Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz well for many years".

[13] In an article first appearing on the website of Vanity Fair in November 2006, Adelman wrote that he regrets urging military action in Iraq and feels that he overestimated the abilities of the Bush administration leadership.

"[17] The New Yorker reported on October 20, 2008, that Adelman decided to buck his conservative leanings and vote for Senator Barack Obama for President on November 4, 2008.

Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I've concluded that that's no way a president can act under pressure.

He added, "McCain's temperament—leading him to bizarre behavior during the week the economic crisis broke—and his judgment—leading him to Wasilla—depressed me into thinking that "our guy" would be a(nother) lousy conservative president.