Philip H. Gordon (born 1962) is an American diplomat and
foreign policy professional. Since March 21, 2022, he has served as Assistant to the President and
National Security Advisor to the
Vice President of the United States
The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice ...
,
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
. Earlier in his career, he was
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
The Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs is a position within the United States Department of State that leads the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs charged with implementing American foreign policy in Europe and Eu ...
(2009–2011) and Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf Region (2013–2015) during the
presidency of Barack Obama.
Education
Gordon received his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
from
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...
in 1984 and went on to study at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of th ...
(SAIS), receiving a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in 1987 and a
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
in 1991.
Career
Teaching career
Gordon held a number of research and teaching positions, including at the
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
; the
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England.
The 2017 Global Go To Think ...
in London;
INSEAD
INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...
, the global graduate business school in
Fontainebleau; the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (“Sciences Po”) in Paris; and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
.
Clinton administration
From 1998 to 1999, he served as the Director for European Affairs at the
National Security Council under President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
.
Obama administration
From 2013 to 2015, Gordon served as Special Assistant to the President and
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf Region.
Prior to joining the
National Security Council staff, he served as
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
The Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs is a position within the United States Department of State that leads the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs charged with implementing American foreign policy in Europe and Eu ...
under Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
from May 2009 to March 2013. During his time as Assistant Secretary, Gordon prioritized cooperation with Europe on global issues; promoting U.S. commercial and business interests; extending stability, prosperity and democracy to
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
, the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...
; and developing bilateral cooperation with Russia and with Turkey.
Council on Foreign Relations
Between the Obama and Biden administrations, Gordon worked as the Mary and
David Boies
David Boies (; born March 11, 1941) is an American lawyer and chairman of the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. Boies rose to national prominence for three major cases: leading the U.S. federal government's successful prosecution of Microsof ...
senior fellow in U.S. foreign policy at the
Council on Foreign Relations, where he focused on U.S. foreign policy, the Middle East, and Europe. He was also a Senior Adviser at
Albright Stonebridge Group
Dentons Global Advisors ASG, formerly Albright Stonebridge Group, is a global business strategy firm based in Washington, D.C., United States. It was created in 2009 through the merger of international consulting firms The Albright Group, found ...
.
He joined the
Council on Foreign Relations in April 2015 as a senior fellow focused on U.S. foreign and national security policy; U.S. policy in the Middle East; Israeli-Palestinian issues; Middle East regional issues; Europe and the EU; Russia; Turkey; nuclear weapons; intelligence; terrorism; and international economics.
Biden administration
On January 16, 2021, then President-elect
Joe Biden and Vice President-elect
Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
announced that Gordon would be named Deputy National Security Advisor to the Vice President.
On March 21, 2022, press reports indicated that Gordon would succeed
Nancy McEldowney
Nancy Eileen McEldowney (born October 6, 1958) is an American academic and diplomat who served as the national security advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris from January 20, 2021 to March 21, 2022. She was previously a career Foreign Service ...
as
National Security Advisor to the Vice President
Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President role is to advise the Vice President on all matters of national security and provide input to the National Security Council and serves as the primary foreign policy ...
.
Publications
Gordon has published articles in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'', ''
Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
'', ''
the Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...
'', ''
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
Foreign Affairs'', ''
Foreign Policy'', ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'', and elsewhere.
He has also authored several books, including:
*''Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East'', 2020
*''Winning the Right War: The Path to Security for America and the World'', 2008
*''Winning Turkey: How America, Europe, And Turkey Can Revive A Fading Partnership'' (with
Omer Taspinar), 2008
*''History Strikes Back: How States, Nations, And Conflicts Are Shaping The Twenty-first Century, ed.,'' (with
Hubert Vedrine and
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...
), 2008
*''Crescent of Crisis: US-European Strategy for the Middle East,'' ed., (with
Ivo Daalder
Ivo H. Daalder (born March 2, 1960 in The Hague, Netherlands),"Ivo H. Daalder." Marquis Who's Who TM. ''Marquis Who's Who'', 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/B ...
and
Nicole Gnesotto), 2006
*''Allies at War: The United States, Europe, and the Crisis Over Iraq'' (with Jeremy Shapiro), 2004
*''The French Challenge: Adapting to Globalization'' (with
Sophie Meunier), 2001
*''Cold War Statesmen Confront the Bomb,'' ed. (with
John Lewis Gaddis
John Lewis Gaddis (born 1941) is an American international relations scholar, military historian, and writer. He is the Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. He is best known for his work on the Cold War and ...
,
Ernest R. May and Jonathan Rosenberg), 1999
*''NATO's Transformation, ed.'', 1997
*''France, Germany and the Western Alliance'', 1995
*''A Certain Idea of France'', 1993
He has also translated two books:
Nicolas Sarkozy's ''Testimony: France, Europe, and the World in the Twenty-First Century'', 2007, and
Hubert Vedrine's ''France in the Age of Globalization'', 2001.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Philip
Living people
United States Assistant Secretaries of State
Brookings Institution people
Johns Hopkins University alumni
Ohio University alumni
International relations scholars
1962 births
Academic staff of INSEAD
United States National Security Council staffers
Biden administration personnel
Obama administration personnel
Clinton administration personnel