Research
Special Projects
Biden Administration International Affairs Personnel Tracker
Colin Kahl
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Dr. Colin Kahl was nominated for Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Dr. Kahl is currently a Co-Director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He was on President Biden’s transition team and worked with President Biden closely under the Obama administration. He was the Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President between 2014-2017, when he also represented the Office of the Vice President as a standing member of the National Security Council Deputies’ Committee. Dr. Kahl was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East between 2009-2011.
On China
Dr. Kahl’s past experience focused mostly on the Middle East and nuclear issues; his view on China has not been made public. Nevertheless, being a trusted advisor to President Biden, Dr. Kahl’s beliefs align closely with the President. Dr. Kahl views managing the U.S. global alliance as essential to advancing U.S. security and interests overseas. In December 2020, in an article by TIME, speaking about the Biden administration’s relation with South Korea and Japan, Dr. Kahl said, “What you’ll see is much more of a united front… Making real progress on these issues in the medium to long term is exponentially greater if we’re working alongside our allies, but also managing our allies’ relations with one another.”
Page Last Updated: March 10, 2021
*None of the personnel in this tracker are associated with the Institute for China-America Studies. All images used on this page are sourced from the official Biden-Harris transition website buildbackbetter.gov or the public domain.*
