Dr Kurt Campbell was the inaugural 2013 Lowy Institute Distinguished International Fellow.

A former US diplomat, Dr Campbell most recently served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, where he was a key architect of the ‘rebalance to Asia’ strategy.

He is Chairman and CEO of The Asia Group, LLC, a strategic advisory and investment group specialising in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2007, Dr Campbell co-founded the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington, DC think tank. He remains Co-Chair of the Board of Directors at CNAS.

Dr Campbell has co-authored many books, including Difficult Transitions: Why Presidents Fail in Foreign Policy at the Outset of Power (with Jim Steinberg), To Prevail: An American Strategy for the Campaign against Terrorism (with Michele Flournoy), Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security (with Michael O’Hanlon), and The Power of Balance: America in Asia (with Nirav Patel). He is currently writing a book entitled The Pivot, about his experiences working on Asia Pacific policy in the Obama Administration.