Edgard D. Kagan

Ambassador (ret.) Edgard D. Kagan is senior adviser and Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He served as U.S. ambassador to Malaysia for Presidents Trump and Biden from December 2023 until February 2026. He previously served as special assistant to the president and senior director for East Asia and Oceania at the National Security Council. Ambassador Kagan also served as chargé d’affaires and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, as well as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is a former deputy assistant secretary for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He has also served as U.S. consul general in Mumbai, India, and as deputy director of the Washington office of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. He was a political officer and then political external unit chief at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Ambassador Kagan is the recipient of the Presidential Meritorious Award and numerous Department of State performance awards. He speaks Mandarin Chinese and French and holds a BA from Yale University.