Mirna Galic is a senior policy analyst for China and East Asia at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Her areas of expertise include relations between U.S. partners in Asia and Europe and how such relations enable these partners to address regional and international security issues.  

Prior to joining USIP, Galic lived and worked in Tokyo in 2018 and 2019 as a Council on Foreign Relations-Hitachi International Affairs fellow at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, where she remains a nonresident senior fellow. She also spent seven years as a senior advisor with the U.S. government at both the Department of State and in the U.S. Senate. Previously, she served as a special advisor in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General at the United Nations.  

Galic is the author of various works, including a series of papers on Japan-NATO relations. She holds a master’s in international relations from Princeton University and a bachelor’s in environmental studies from Stanford University.

Publications By Mirna

Mirna Galic on the U.S.-South Korea-Japan Summit

Mirna Galic on the U.S.-South Korea-Japan Summit

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

By: Mirna Galic

While last week’s summit of U.S., South Korean and Japanese leaders may have been historic, the three countries hope “to really institutionalize trilateral cooperation going forward” through joint diplomatic and security initiatives that present “a stronger, united front” in the Indo-Pacific, says USIP's Mirna Galic.

Type: Podcast

What to Expect from the Trilateral Summit with Japan and South Korea

What to Expect from the Trilateral Summit with Japan and South Korea

Thursday, August 17, 2023

By: Kemi Adewalure;  Frank Aum;  Mirna Galic

After months of steadily increasing diplomatic exchanges — and a historic thaw in tensions between South Korea and Japan — President Joe Biden will host Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at Camp David for a trilateral summit on August 18. The three leaders have previously met on the sidelines of larger multilateral forums, such as last year’s NATO summit, but the Camp David meeting marks the first standalone leader-level summit between the three countries.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

What’s Behind NATO’s Tightening Ties with its Indo-Pacific Partners?

What’s Behind NATO’s Tightening Ties with its Indo-Pacific Partners?

Thursday, July 6, 2023

By: Mirna Galic

NATO’s summit in Madrid, Spain, in June 2022 marked the first time the four leaders of NATO’s Indo-Pacific partner countries — Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea (ROK) — joined NATO counterparts for a meeting at the heads of state and government level. July 2023, at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, will mark the second. The high level of media attention paid to the attendance in Madrid of the Indo-Pacific partners, known informally as the Indo-Pacific Four or IP4, is likely to be repeated in Vilnius. Beyond this, what should Indo-Pacific watchers expect from the Vilnius Summit in terms of NATO-IP4 developments?

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

At the G7 Summit, Leaders Talk Tough on China but Moderate Tone

At the G7 Summit, Leaders Talk Tough on China but Moderate Tone

Thursday, May 25, 2023

By: Mirna Galic

The major headline from this year’s G7 summit in Hiroshima was the appearance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his push to end Russia’s war on his country. But another G7 concern, China, also featured prominently at the summit. While this year’s G7 leaders’ communique featured some more moderate language on China than last year’s, it also focused heavily on economic coercion, condemning a “disturbing rise” of the “weaponization of economic vulnerabilities” — a not too subtle jab at China’s economic statecraft. Still, even as U.S.-China relations remain tense, this year’s discussion of constructive engagement represents a shift more aligned with European and Japanese stances on how to deal with the challenges posed by China.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Global Policy

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