Sam Ide is a Vice President in the Asia Group’s China practice, where he advises clients on navigating policy developments and regulatory changes in China and regional geopolitical risk. An experienced practitioner across multiple issue areas, Sam has expertise in the healthcare, retail and consumer goods, and technology industries, as well as in applied political risk analysis.
Before joining The Asia Group, Sam was an Associate Partner at the business advisory firm Albright Stonebridge Group, where he advised clients for nearly six years on a range of China-related issues. In this role, he supported clients in all stages of their activity in China, ranging from market entry and expansion, mergers & acquisition, and new investments, to market exit, dispute resolution, and de-risking strategy. Sam developed government engagement strategies, authored policy briefs, created risk assessment frameworks, analyzed new developments in China policy in Washington, DC, and supported scenario planning and tabletop exercises involving China-related geopolitical risk.
Sam earned his Master of Arts in East Asian Studies from Stanford University with a focus on Chinese political economy and China-Central Asia relations, and a Bachelor of Arts with honors in Political Science and Asian Studies from Northwestern University. Sam spent significant time on-the-ground conducting academic fieldwork in China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan that explored China’s Belt and Road Initiative and trade policy in Central Asia.
Sam also studied at the Inter-University Program for Chinese language at Tsinghua University, in addition to time spent at Peking University and Beijing Foreign Studies University. Sam teaches a professional skills course on political risk analysis at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Sam is proficient in Mandarin and currently learning Mongolian.
In his spare time, Sam enjoys going on hikes with his beloved chow chow Dow, reading history and current affairs, and gardening (with a specialty in sunflowers). Sam lives in Alexandria, VA.