Zoellick has been a senior fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs since ending his term with the World Bank in 2012.

[16] He led the US Delegation to the Two Plus Four talks on German reunification;[17] for his achievements in this role, the Federal Republic of Germany awarded him the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit.

[20] After leaving government service, Zoellick served from 1993 to 1997 as an Executive Vice President of Fannie Mae, and was also its General Counsel from 1993 through 1996.

Naval Academy (1997–98);[22] and Research Scholar at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government (1999–2001).

[26] He resigned due to pressure from the board, which objected to his role as an occasional adviser to George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign.

[26] In the 2000 presidential election campaign, Zoellick served as a foreign policy advisor to George W. Bush as part of a group, led by Condoleezza Rice, which she termed The Vulcans, after her home town of Birmingham, Alabama.

[28] George W. Bush named Zoellick U.S. Trade Representative in his first term,[6] making him a member of the Executive Office of the President and Cabinet of the United States.

[13] According to journalist and author Nikolas Kozloff, Zoellick relentlessly promoted the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) over the objections of labor, environmentalist, and human rights groups, and engaged in fear-mongering around Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chavez to do so.

Biotech food helps nourish the world's hungry population, offers tremendous opportunities for better health and nutrition, and protects the environment by reducing soil erosion and pesticide use.

"[33] Zoellick was also the Bush administration's point-man on the Darfur conflict peace process, making four trips to Sudan to press the two sides to agree.

[34] Zoellick resigned his position as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State in June 2006 to rejoin Goldman Sachs, this time as Vice Chairman, International, and to advise the investment bank on global strategy.

[37] In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington in October 2007, Zoellick outlined "six strategic themes in support of the goal of an inclusive and sustainable globalization" to guide the future work of the World Bank: overcoming poverty and spurring sustainable growth in the poorest countries, especially Africa; addressing the problems of states coming out of conflict or seeking to avoid breakdown of the state; using a more differentiated business model for middle-income countries; fostering regional and global public goods that transcend national boundaries and benefit multiple countries and citizens; supporting development and opportunities in the Arab World; and using the World Bank's "brain trust" of applied experience to address the five other strategic themes.

[38] During Zoellick's time at the World Bank, the institution's capital stock was expanded[39] and lending volumes increased to help member countries deal with the global financial and economic crisis;[39] assistance was stepped up to deal with the famine in the Horn of Africa;[40] a major increase in resources was achieved for the institution's soft loan facility, the International Development Association (IDA), which lends to the poorest countries;[41] and a reform was carried out to the World Bank's shareholding, Executive Board and voting structure, to increase the influence of developing and emerging economies in the World Bank's governance.

[44] After leaving the World Bank, Zoellick took up the position as a senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in July 2012.

[47] According to political commentator Fred Barnes, writing beforehand in The International Economy magazine, Zoellick at the time was considered a "heavyweight with impressive government experience".

[82] In 1992, he received the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his eminent achievements in the course of German reunification.

[82] The Mexican and Chilean governments awarded him their highest honors for non-citizens, the Aztec Eagle[83] and the Order of Merit,[84] for recognition of his work on free trade, development, and the environment.

[85] In a January 2000 Foreign Affairs essay entitled "Campaign 2000: A Republican Foreign Policy," Zoellick noted five Republican principles (respect for power, building and sustaining coalitions and alliances, recognizing common interests with international agreements and institutions, embracing new technologies for global politics and security, and the continuing presence of bad actors.

Today, we face enemies who are hard at work to develop nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, along with the missiles to deliver them.

Challenged to explain this apparent U.S. government intervention in a domestic matter, Koizumi merely expressed his satisfaction that Takenaka had been befriended by such an important figure… It is hard to overestimate the scale of the opportunity offered to U.S. and global finance capital by the privatization of the Postal Savings System.

"[87] In the lead-up to the 2010 G-20 Seoul summit and in the immediate wake of the U.S. elections and subsequent Fed QE2 monetary-policy move, Zoellick wrote in a Financial Times editorial that the Group of 20 leading economies should consider adopting a global reserve currency based on gold as part of structural reforms to the world’s foreign-exchange regime.

[90] In a November 1, 2016, interview with Deutsche Welle, Zoellick said "My belief differences with Trump were not only placed on policy – his protectionism, his infatuation with authoritarian leaders and Vladimir Putin.