Philip H. Gordon (born 1962) is an American diplomat and

foreign policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...

professional. Since March 21, 2022, he has served as Assistant to the President and

National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...

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 p ...

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 Barack Obama's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 44th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Barack Obama, his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democratic Pa ...

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 si ...

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 subse ...

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 ''l ...

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.; 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 Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissemen ...

; 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 A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

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 again ...

Obama administration

From 2013 to 2015, Gordon served as Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf Region. Prior to joining the

staff, he served as

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, whi ...

, 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, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...

; 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 The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

, 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

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

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.

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 ...

'', ''

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, Nik ...

'', ''

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 Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy a ...

'', ''

Foreign Policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...

'', ''

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 Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers. ...

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 Democrat ...

), 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 Sophie Meunier (born 1967 in Paris, France) is a senior research scholar in Public and International Affairs at Princeton University'School of Public and International Affairs(formerly known as the Woodrow Wilson School). She is the Director of Pri ...

), 2001 *''Cold War Statesmen Confront the Bomb,'' ed. (with John Lewis Gaddis, 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 Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

's ''Testimony: France, Europe, and the World in the Twenty-First Century'', 2007, and

'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 INSEAD faculty United States National Security Council staffers Biden administration personnel Obama administration personnel Clinton administration personnel