Chris Johnstone is a senior advisor at The Asia Group and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to joining CSIS, he served in government for 25 years in a variety of senior positions with a focus on U.S. policy toward Japan and the Indo-Pacific region. He served twice on the National Security Council, as director for East Asia under President Joe Biden and director for Japan and Oceanian affairs under President Barack Obama. In the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he led offices with responsibility for South and Southeast Asia and East Asia. He began his career as an intelligence officer in the Central Intelligence Agency.
Podcasts
Chris Johnstone on Japan’s Growing Security Leadership
- Japan
Recent Posts
Han Lin in Bloomberg: ‘Hong Kong is still an easier place to raise large amounts of capital’
February 26, 2026
Media Mentions
Han Shen Lin, China Country director for business consultancy The Asia Group. stated “Mainland China IPO approvals have been episodic ...
How India Is Positioning Itself at the Center of the Global AI Economy
February 25, 2026
Newsletter
As the Supreme Court struck down the legal basis for the Trump administration’s most sweeping tariffs last Friday, the world’s ...
George Chen in CNBC on the lack of China mentions in Trump’s State of the Union speech
February 25, 2026
Media Mentions
In order to maintain that relationship, Trump plans to visit Beijing from March 31 to April 2, the first trip ...
The Big Picture: India’s AI Trajectory — From Consensus to Capability