Daniel Russel

Daniel Russel is vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the U.S. Department of State, he served until March 2017 as the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Prior to his appointment as assistant secretary on July 12, 2013, Russel served at the White House as special assistant to the president and National Security Council senior director for Asian affairs. During his tenure there, he helped formulate President Obama’s strategic rebalance to the Asia Pacific region. During his 33-year diplomatic career, Russel has been the recipient of numerous awards, most recently the 2017 Presidential Rank Award. He served in East Asia, Western Europe, at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, and in Washington, as chief of staff to then-Undersecretary of State Thomas R. Pickering.