Participant Biographies

Victor Cha

Victor Cha

Senior Advisor and Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Session 1 - "ROK-U.S. Alliance"

Dr. Victor Cha joined CSIS in May 2009 as a senior adviser and the inaugural holder of the Korea Chair. He is the D.S. Song-KF Professor of Government in the Department of Government and School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. From 2004 to 2007, he served as director for Asian affairs at the White House on the National Security Council (NSC), where he was responsible primarily for Japan, the Korean peninsula, Australia/New Zealand, and Pacific Island nation affairs. Dr. Cha was also the deputy head of delegation for the United States at the Six-Party Talks in Beijing and received two Outstanding Service Commendations during his tenure at the NSC. His newest book is Powerplay: Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia (Princeton University Press, 2016). He has written articles on international relations and East Asia in journals including Foreign Affairs, International Security and many others. Dr. Cha is a former John M. Olin National Security Fellow at Harvard University, a two-time Fulbright Scholar, and a Hoover National Fellow, CISAC Fellow, and William J. Perry Fellow at Stanford University. Dr. Cha holds a B.A., an M.I.A., and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, as well as an M.A. from Oxford University.