Vikram Singh

Senior Vice President

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia

Vikram J. Singh is a Senior Advisor for Asia at the United States Institute of Peace. He is an expert on defense, aerospace, technology and Asia. Vikram has been a leader of innovation in public policy and global affairs at the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of State, and major non-profits for over 15 years. He has served five Secretaries of Defense.

From 2014 to 2017 Vikram was vice president for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress, where he established CAP’s Asia program and launched work on nuclear security, a major task force on U.S – India relations, and a program on defending the internet as a force for democracy. Vikram led CAP’s partnership with the American Enterprise Institute on democracy and the transatlantic alliance and continues to serve as a senior fellow for national security, democracy and technology.

From 2012 to 2014 Vikram was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia. He ran negotiations to deepen U.S. defense cooperation in the region through new access agreements with Australia, the Philippines, and Singapore. His team also developed new defense arrangements with New Zealand and Vietnam and oversaw the U.S. – India Defense Trade and Technology Initiative.

Earlier, Vikram was Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Department of State. He developed a political-military strategy approved by the President and Secretary of State to end the war. He represented the United States alongside other countries on political, military and economic issues related to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Vikram was the first defense fellow at the Center for a New American Security in 2007. He was previously the Pentagon’s first director for partnership strategy, developing and securing passage by Congress of new legal authorities for global defense cooperation. Vikram received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service in 2012 and the Department of State Superior Honor Award in 2006 and 2012.