Kurt M. Campbell

Kurt Michael Campbell, AO, CNZM (born August 27, 1957) is an American diplomat and businessman, who formerly served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He is the chairman and CEO of The Asia Group, LLC, which he founded in February 2013.

He was previously the chief executive officer and co-founder of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a national security think tank launched in January 2007. He also served as director of the Aspen Strategy Group and the chairman of the editorial board of the Washington Quarterly, and was the founder and principal of StratAsia, a strategic advisory company focused on Asia. Prior to co-founding CNAS, he served as senior vice president, director of the International Security Program, and the Henry A. Kissinger Chair in National Security Policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

On June 26, 2009, Campbell was confirmed as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and his last day in office was February 8, 2013.

Kurt Michael Campbell was born on August 27, 1957. He received a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego, a certificate in music and political philosophy from the University of Yerevan in Soviet Armenia, and a doctorate in international relations from Brasenose College, Oxford on a Marshall Scholarship.

Campbell served as an officer in the U.S. Navy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in the Chief of Naval Operations Special Intelligence Unit. He was also associate professor of public policy and international relations at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Assistant Director of the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.

Previously, Campbell 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 the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and as a White House fellow at the United States Department of the Treasury. Campbell received the Department of Defense Medals for Distinguished Public Service and for Outstanding Public Service. He co-chaired the executive committee of the 9-11 Pentagon Memorial Fund. Campbell is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Wasatch Group, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

On 25 November 2013, Campbell was appointed an Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) For service to strengthening bilateral relations between Australia and the United States of America. In the 2014 New Year Honours, Campbell was appointed an honorary Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to New Zealand-United States relations.

• The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia, Kurt M. Campbell, (NYC: Twelve, 2016) ISBN 978-1455568956
• Difficult Transitions: Foreign Policy Troubles at the Outset of Presidential Power, Kurt M. Campbell and James B. Steinberg, (Washington, D.C.: Brookings, 2008)
• Climatic Cataclysm: The Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Climate Change, Kurt M. Campbell, ed., (Washington, D.C.: Brookings, 2008)
• Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security, Kurt M. Campbell and Michael E. O'Hanlon, (Washington, D.C.: Basic Books, 2006)
• The Nuclear Tipping Point, Kurt M. Campbell, Robert J. Einhorn, Mitchell B. Reiss, eds., (Washington, D.C.: Brookings, 2004)
• To Prevail: An American Strategy for the Campaign against Terrorism, Kurt M. Campbell and Michèle Flournoy, Principal Authors, Center for Strategic and International Studies (Washington, D.C.: CSIS Press, 2001)

• Is this what the World is Coming to? (Nature.com)