President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Kurt Campbell, a former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs in the Obama administration, as the newly created coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region in the National Security Council, according to the latest announcement from his transition team. Campbell, 64, is widely regarded as a key architect of the Obama-era “Pivot to Asia” strategy.
Born in Fresno, California, in 1957, Campbell received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, and a certificate in political philosophy and music from Yerevan State University in Soviet-era Armenia. He also received his doctorate in international relations from Brechinose College, Oxford University, on a Marshall Scholarship. Campbell served in the U.S. Navy and represented the Navy on the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he was head of the Naval Operations Special Intelligence Group. He was also an associate professor of public policy and international relations at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and assistant director of the school’s Center for Science and International Affairs.
In addition, Campbell has held several positions in the U.S. government, including Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Staff Director of the National Security Council, Deputy Special Advisor to the President on the North American Free Trade Agreement, and White House Fellow at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In recognition of Campbell’s efforts to advance a comprehensive U.S. strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton awarded him the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Award – the highest U.S. diplomatic honor – in 2013.
Campbell is currently the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of The Asia Group. Founded in 2013, The Asia Group is a Washington, D.C.-based strategic advisory and capital management firm focused on the Asia-Pacific region, with offices in Hong Kong. He is co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington think tank, a non-resident fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center, and Vice Chairman of the East-West Center (EWC). Campbell has also been named a 2018 McCain Institute Henry Kissinger Fellow.
According to the Financial Times, U.S. China scholars Ely Ratner and Rush Doshi will serve as directors of Asia and China issues at the Biden administration’s Department of Defense and National Security Council, respectively.
Recent Comments