David Shear Joins CSIS Asia Program as a Non-Resident Senior Associate

January 23, 2018

The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce that Ambassador David Shear has joined CSIS’s Asia Program as a non-resident senior associate.

Previously, Ambassador Shear served as assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs from 2014 to 2016, where he performed the duties of principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy.

Prior to 2014, Ambassador Shear served for 32 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, most recently as U.S. ambassador to Vietnam. He has also served in Sapporo, Beijing, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur. In Washington, Ambassador Shear has served in the Offices of Japanese, Chinese, and Korean Affairs and as special assistant to the under secretary for political affairs. He was director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in 2008–2009 and served as deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in 2009–2011.

“David Shear brings a wealth of experience on Asia as a diplomat and senior defense official,” said Michael Green, CSIS senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair. “Throughout his career he has played a central role at key moments in U.S. policy toward Japan, Korea, China, and Southeast Asia.”

Ambassador Shear was a Rusk fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy from 1998 to 1999. He is a recipient of the State Department’s Superior Honor Award and the Defense Department’s Civilian Meritorious Service Award for his work in U.S.-Japan defense relations.

Ambassador Shear graduated from Earlham College and has a master’s degree in international affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He has attended Waseda University, Taiwan National University, and Nanjing University, and he speaks Chinese and Japanese.