Brian Harding joined the U.S. Institute of Peace in May 2020 as a senior expert and has led a major expansion of USIP’s programming in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, including the launch of new country programs in Vietnam, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. He comes to USIP with more than 15 years of experience in Southeast Asian affairs in government, think tanks and the private sector.

Prior to joining USIP, Harding was deputy director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he managed a range of projects focused on Southeast Asia’s political economy and U.S.-Southeast Asia relations.

Previously, he was director for East and Southeast Asia policy at the Center for American Progress, where he led an expansion of their work on Southeast Asia and Japan.

From 2009 to 2013, he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon as country director for Asian and Pacific security affairs. There, he managed defense relations with major U.S. partners in Southeast Asia and Oceania and played an instrumental role in several high-profile defense policy initiatives, including agreements to station U.S. Marines in Darwin, Australia, and littoral combat ships in Singapore.

In the private sector, Harding has advised many of the world’s most prominent companies and financial institutions on political risk and leadership dynamics in Southeast Asia, including in roles at Eurasia Group and Monitor 360.

Harding holds degrees from Middlebury College and The George Washington University and has studied at universities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Kyoto, Japan. In Southeast Asia, he has also been a Fulbright research fellow in Indonesia and taught English in Nong Khai, Thailand.
 

Publications By Brian

Brian Harding on Renewed U.S.-Philippines Ties

Brian Harding on Renewed U.S.-Philippines Ties

Monday, May 8, 2023

By: Brian Harding

Philippine President Marcos’s visit to Washington has helped usher the U.S.-Philippines relationship into “a new renaissance,” says USIP’s Brian Harding. And with growing concerns over Beijing’s influence in the Pacific, “[Marcos] is making a bet that if he deepens this relationship … that is how he’s going to deter China.”

Type: Podcast

Marcos Meets Biden Amid Tightening Security Ties

Marcos Meets Biden Amid Tightening Security Ties

Monday, May 1, 2023

By: Brian Harding

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. is in Washington this week, capping off a period in which Washington-Manila ties have seen a sharp turnaround. During former President Rodrigo Duterte’s six-year tenure, he sought to align Manila closer with Beijing, but with ultimately little to show for it. Since taking office last June, Marcos has moved to reverse course, dramatically deepening the 70-year-old U.S.-Philippines security alliance amid China’s increasingly coercive actions in the South China Sea. It is expected that Marcos and President Joe Biden will announce this week plans for stepped up military coordination.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

EconomicsGlobal Policy

Brian Harding on the First U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit

Brian Harding on the First U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

By: Brian Harding

As President Biden hosts a first-ever U.S. summit with Pacific Island countries, USIP’s Brian Harding says regional leaders “have some concerns” about growing U.S.-China competition — but they would rather “talk about their own interests and needs … If you ask them, their top priority by far is climate change.”

Type: Podcast

Global Policy

Why is Biden Hosting the First U.S-Pacific Islands Summit Now?

Why is Biden Hosting the First U.S-Pacific Islands Summit Now?

Monday, September 26, 2022

By: Brian Harding;  Camilla Pohle-Anderson

President Joe Biden will host leaders of Pacific Island countries for a summit at the White House from September 28-29, the latest U.S. effort to strengthen ties with a region that is increasingly the focus of competition between China and the United States and its partners. While China is a major force behind the United States’ effort to reengage with the Pacific Islands, strategic competition has also reawakened Washington to its fundamental interests in the region, which have existed for many decades, and long predate the current era of U.S.-China rivalry.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

Bangsamoro Peace and the U.S.-Philippines Alliance

Bangsamoro Peace and the U.S.-Philippines Alliance

Tuesday, September 13, 2022

By: Brian Harding;  Haroro J. Ingram

The election in May of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the 17th president of the Philippines presents an opportunity to reset U.S.-Philippines relations after six rocky years while President Rodrigo Duterte held the office. After Marcos’s sweeping election victory, President Biden called to congratulate him and then dispatched a series of U.S. officials to Manila, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Any concerns that the Marcos family’s corruption and lingering legal issues in the United States would hold up relations have been pushed aside due to the enormous interests the United States has in a functioning U.S.-Philippines alliance.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global PolicyPeace Processes

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