Kurt Campbell speaking at PDAA lunch program, 24 November 2014. (Photo: Mike Anderson)
Updated 27 November 2014. Dr. Kurt Campbell, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, spoke at PDAA’s November 24, 2014 luncheon in Washington, D.C. Known for his policy work on the “pivot,” or “rebalance,” to Asia, Campbell discussed the topic of Rising China and Its Challenges for the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific Region.
Campbell’s addressed a subject with special importance to PDAA members in light of the rise of China but also in the context of several crisis in other regions, personnel changes in the Obama Administration, upcoming high level meetings in Asia, and continued questions about whether the U.S. has a sustained and integrated approach to the region.
Campbell is Co-Founder and former CEO of the Center for a New American Security and currently serves as Chairman of its Board of Directors. He is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Asia Group, LLC, a strategic advisory and investment group specializing in the dynamic and fast growing Asia Pacific region. Campbell also writes a regular column and book reviews for the Financial Times of London.
From 2009 to 2013, he served as the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, where he is widely credited as being a key architect of the “pivot” to Asia. In this capacity, Campbell advanced a comprehensive U.S. strategy to strengthen security alliances and partnerships from Northeast to Southeast Asia and throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Campbell previously served in several capacities in government, including as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia and the Pacific, director on the National Security Council Staff, deputy special counselor to the president for NAFTA in the White House, and White House fellow at the Department of the Treasury.
Campbell is currently writing a book about his experiences in the Obama Administration working on Asia, tentatively entitled The Pivot; America’s Rediscovery of the Asia-Pacific Century. He is the co-author with Jim Steinberg of Difficult Transitions: Why Presidents Fail in Foreign Policy at the Outset of Power, with Michele Flournoy of To Prevail: An American Strategy for the Campaign against Terrorism, with Michael O’Hanlon of Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security, and he co-authored with Nirav Patel, The Power of Balance: America in Asia. He has a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University.
This PDAA lunch program took place on Monday, November 24 at DACOR-Bacon House, 1801 F Street NW, Washington, D.C.
