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The East-West Center in Washington invites you to A Special Event
The United States' Enhanced & Enduring Commitment to the Pacific Islands Region
Opening Remarks:
The Honorable John Barsa
Acting Deputy Administrator,
United States Agency for International Development
Representative Michael T. McCaul (TX-10)
Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,
United States House of Representatives
Admiral Philip S. Davidson
Commander,
United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM)
Representative Ed Case (HI-1)
Pacific Islands Caucus Co-Chair,
United States House of Representatives
The Honorable David R. Stilwell
Assistant Secretary of State,
East Asian and Pacific Affairs,
United States Department of State
Panel Discussion:
Ms. Gloria D. SteeleDeputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia,US Agency for International Development Admiral Philip S. DavidsonCommander,United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Representative Ed Case (HI-1) Pacific Islands Caucus Co-Chair,United States House of Representatives The Honorable David R. Stilwell Assistant Secretary of State, East Asian and Pacific Affairs,United States Department of State
Satu P. Limaye, PhD (Moderator)
Vice President, East-West Center &
Director, East-West Center in Washington
East-West Center in Washington · The United States’ Enhanced & Enduring Commitment to the Pacific Islands Region
Key officials engaged in United States relations with Pacific Islands countries will discuss expanding presence and engagement in the region from development, military and congressional policy perspectives. They will explain how these moves position the United States to deepen strategic partnership with Pacific Island nations in support of a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific. Opening comments followed by moderated discussion will cover the development trajectories of Pacific Island countries, COVID-19’s impacts on the region, and US-China dynamics.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
John Barsa is the acting USAID Deputy Administrator. Prior to assuming these duties on April 11, 2020, he was sworn in on June 10, 2019, as the Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. Barsa brings considerable experience from decades of service in the public and private sectors. Mr. Barsa comes to USAID after leading the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Partnership and Engagement (OPE), where he oversaw DHS’s coordination and collaboration with governors, mayors and other intergovernmental partners, the private sector, the law enforcement community, and other key stakeholders. Mr. Barsa began his career at DHS in the Trump Administration as Special Assistant to Secretary John Kelly. Barsa first entered public service as a member of the US Army Reserves, initially with the 11th Special Forces Group and later with the 450th Civil Affairs Battalion. While still in the Reserves, he started working in the US House of Representatives for Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL). In this capacity, much of his work focused on defense and other issues related to national security. In the private sector, he has held key positions with a premier defense trade association, small businesses and large businesses including a leading Fortune 100 company. The son of a Cuban refugee, Mr. Barsa grew up in a fully bilingual and bi-cultural family in Miami, Florida. He has a bachelor's degree in International Affairs from Florida International University and is a graduate of Syracuse University’s National Security Management Fellows Program.
Congressman Michael T. McCaul is currently serving his eighth term representing Texas' 10th District in the United States Congress. At the start of the 116th Congress, Congressman McCaul became the Republican Leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Prior to being term-limited, Congressman McCaul served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security during the 113th, 115th, and 116th Congresses. Prior to Congress, Michael McCaul served as Chief of Counter Terrorism and National Security in the US Attorney’s office, Western District of Texas, and led the Joint Terrorism Task Force charged with detecting, deterring, and preventing terrorist activity. McCaul also served as Texas Deputy Attorney General under current US Senator John Cornyn, and served as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section in Washington, DC. A fourth generation Texan, Congressman McCaul earned a B.A. in Business and History from Trinity University and holds a J.D. from St. Mary's University School of Law.
Adm. Phil Davidson is the 25th Commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), America’s oldest and largest military combatant command, based in Hawai’i. USINDOPACOM includes 380,000 uniformed service men and women and Department of Defense civilians and is responsible for all US military activities in the Indo-Pacific, covering 36 nations, 14 time zones, and more than 50 percent of the world’s population. Prior to assuming command of USINDOPACOM on May 30, 2018, he served as the commander of US Fleet Forces Command/Naval Forces US Northern Command. He previously served as the commander, US 6th Fleet, and the commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, while simultaneously serving as the deputy commander, US Naval Forces Europe and US Naval Forces Africa. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Davidson is a 1982 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He is a surface warfare officer who has deployed across the globe. Ashore, Davidson has served in fleet, interagency, and joint tours as a flag officer; he was previously the director, Maritime Operations, US Fleet Forces Command, the senior military advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) at the State Department, and the deputy director for Strategy and Policy in the Joint Staff/J-5. He is a distinguished graduate of the US Naval War College. He has a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies, and a Bachelor of Science in Physics. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” a Superior Honor Award from the US Department of State, and other personal, service, unit, and campaign awards.
Ed Case proudly represents Hawaii's First Congressional District. Congressman Case previously represented Hawaii's Second Congressional District from 2002 to 2007. He also served as Hawai'i State Representative from 1994 to 2002 in various positions including Majority Leader. Case attended Waiakea-Kai and Keaukaha Elementary Schools in Hilo before graduating from Hawai'i Preparatory Academy in Kamuela. He went on to graduate from Williams College in Massachusetts before working on Capitol Hill for three years as legislative assistant to US Representative/Senator Spark Matsunaga of Hawai'i. Following this first of three DC tours, Congressman Case graduated from University of California/Hastings College of Law in San Francisco before returning to Hawai'i to serve initially as law clerk to Hawai'i Supreme Court Chief Justice William Richardson. He then joined the Honolulu-based law firm of Carlsmith Ball, Hawaii's oldest, where for two decades he practiced litigation, property, transactional, business and government law and rose from associate to partner and managing partner. Following his initial service as US Representative, Case practiced law for seven years with the Honolulu firm of Bays Lung Rose & Holma, where he also served as managing attorney. He then served for five years as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Outrigger Enterprises Group, one of Hawaii's oldest hotel and resort companies with properties throughout Hawai'i and the Indo-Pacific region. Case is married to Audrey Nakamura. Audrey was Ed's Hawai'i Prep classmate and worked for four decades as a flight attendant with Pan American and United. They have four children, a daughter-in law and now their first grandchild.
David R. Stilwell is the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary on June 20, 2019, he served in the Air Force for 35 years, beginning as an enlisted Korean linguist in 1980, and retiring in 2015 in the rank of Brigadier General as the Asia advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He served multiple tours of duty in Japan and Korea as a linguist, a fighter pilot, and a commander. He also served as the Defense Attaché at the US Embassy in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, 2011-2013. Most recently, Mr. Stilwell served as the Director of the China Strategic Focus Group at US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii 2017-2019 and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the East West Center in Honolulu from 2016-2019. He earned a B.S. in History from the US Air Force Academy (1987), and a Master’s Degree in Asian Studies and Chinese language from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1988) and is a 2009 graduate of the Executive Leadership program at the Darden School, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was awarded the Department of Defense Superior Service Award in 2015. He speaks Korean, Chinese and limited Japanese.
Gloria D. Steele currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia, after leading the Bureau for Asia for nearly four years. Prior to this assignment, she served as USAID’s Mission Director for the Philippines, the Pacific Islands, and Mongolia, with a program budget of over $500 million from 2010-2015. Prior to being posted in Manila, Ms. Steele served as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Global Health. She assumed this position in January 2005, overseeing an average annual health program budget of $1.5 billion and a staff of 240. From 2001-2004, she served as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia. She also worked for seven years in the Bureau for Africa as an agricultural economist, and seven years in the Bureau for Science and Technology, overseeing applied research on key rural development issues such as land tenure, access to agricultural credit, food security, and natural resource management. Ms. Steele served for one year in the Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination, where she led the development of USAID’s first food security policy. Earlier in her career, Ms. Steele served as a Management Consultant to the Philippines' Secretary of Agriculture, and taught Business Economics at Letran Graduate School for Business in Manila. Ms. Steele received a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University, and a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Maryknoll College in the Philippines. Her awards include a Presidential Meritorious Executive Award in 2007, Presidential Distinguished Executive Awards in 2008 and 2018, and the Order of Sikatuna award from the President of the Philippines in 2015.
Satu Limaye is Vice President of the East-West Center and the Director of the East-West Center in Washington where he created and now directs the Asia Matters for America initiative and is the founding editor of the Asia Pacific Bulletin. He is also a Senior Advisor at CNA Corp (Center for Naval Analyses) and Senior Fellow on Asia History and Policy at the Foreign Policy Institute at Paul H. Nitze School of International Studies (SAIS). He is a graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar. Recent publications include: “America’s ‘Pacific Principle’ in an Indivisible Pacific Islands Region,” (Asia Pacific Bulletin); “Despite Stumbles, America’s Engagement with Southeast Runs Deep,” (Global Asia); Raging Waters: China, India, Bangladesh, and Brahmaputra Water Politics (Marine Corps University Press); and Russia’s Peripheral Relevance to US-Indo Pacific Relations (Center for the National Interest).
The East-West Center in Washington invites you to A Special Event
The United States' Enhanced & Enduring Commitment to the Pacific Islands Region
Opening Remarks:
The Honorable John Barsa
Acting Deputy Administrator,
United States Agency for International Development
Representative Michael T. McCaul (TX-10)
Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,
United States House of Representatives
Admiral Philip S. Davidson
Commander,
United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM)
Representative Ed Case (HI-1)
Pacific Islands Caucus Co-Chair,
United States House of Representatives
The Honorable David R. Stilwell
Assistant Secretary of State,
East Asian and Pacific Affairs,
United States Department of State
Panel Discussion:
Ms. Gloria D. SteeleDeputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia,US Agency for International Development Admiral Philip S. DavidsonCommander,United States Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) Representative Ed Case (HI-1) Pacific Islands Caucus Co-Chair,United States House of Representatives The Honorable David R. Stilwell Assistant Secretary of State, East Asian and Pacific Affairs,United States Department of State
Satu P. Limaye, PhD (Moderator)
Vice President, East-West Center &
Director, East-West Center in Washington
East-West Center in Washington · The United States’ Enhanced & Enduring Commitment to the Pacific Islands Region
Key officials engaged in United States relations with Pacific Islands countries will discuss expanding presence and engagement in the region from development, military and congressional policy perspectives. They will explain how these moves position the United States to deepen strategic partnership with Pacific Island nations in support of a free, open, and secure Indo-Pacific. Opening comments followed by moderated discussion will cover the development trajectories of Pacific Island countries, COVID-19’s impacts on the region, and US-China dynamics.
SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
John Barsa is the acting USAID Deputy Administrator. Prior to assuming these duties on April 11, 2020, he was sworn in on June 10, 2019, as the Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean. Barsa brings considerable experience from decades of service in the public and private sectors. Mr. Barsa comes to USAID after leading the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Partnership and Engagement (OPE), where he oversaw DHS’s coordination and collaboration with governors, mayors and other intergovernmental partners, the private sector, the law enforcement community, and other key stakeholders. Mr. Barsa began his career at DHS in the Trump Administration as Special Assistant to Secretary John Kelly. Barsa first entered public service as a member of the US Army Reserves, initially with the 11th Special Forces Group and later with the 450th Civil Affairs Battalion. While still in the Reserves, he started working in the US House of Representatives for Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL). In this capacity, much of his work focused on defense and other issues related to national security. In the private sector, he has held key positions with a premier defense trade association, small businesses and large businesses including a leading Fortune 100 company. The son of a Cuban refugee, Mr. Barsa grew up in a fully bilingual and bi-cultural family in Miami, Florida. He has a bachelor's degree in International Affairs from Florida International University and is a graduate of Syracuse University’s National Security Management Fellows Program.
Congressman Michael T. McCaul is currently serving his eighth term representing Texas' 10th District in the United States Congress. At the start of the 116th Congress, Congressman McCaul became the Republican Leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Prior to being term-limited, Congressman McCaul served as the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security during the 113th, 115th, and 116th Congresses. Prior to Congress, Michael McCaul served as Chief of Counter Terrorism and National Security in the US Attorney’s office, Western District of Texas, and led the Joint Terrorism Task Force charged with detecting, deterring, and preventing terrorist activity. McCaul also served as Texas Deputy Attorney General under current US Senator John Cornyn, and served as a federal prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section in Washington, DC. A fourth generation Texan, Congressman McCaul earned a B.A. in Business and History from Trinity University and holds a J.D. from St. Mary's University School of Law.
Adm. Phil Davidson is the 25th Commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), America’s oldest and largest military combatant command, based in Hawai’i. USINDOPACOM includes 380,000 uniformed service men and women and Department of Defense civilians and is responsible for all US military activities in the Indo-Pacific, covering 36 nations, 14 time zones, and more than 50 percent of the world’s population. Prior to assuming command of USINDOPACOM on May 30, 2018, he served as the commander of US Fleet Forces Command/Naval Forces US Northern Command. He previously served as the commander, US 6th Fleet, and the commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, while simultaneously serving as the deputy commander, US Naval Forces Europe and US Naval Forces Africa. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Davidson is a 1982 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He is a surface warfare officer who has deployed across the globe. Ashore, Davidson has served in fleet, interagency, and joint tours as a flag officer; he was previously the director, Maritime Operations, US Fleet Forces Command, the senior military advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) at the State Department, and the deputy director for Strategy and Policy in the Joint Staff/J-5. He is a distinguished graduate of the US Naval War College. He has a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies, and a Bachelor of Science in Physics. His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat “V,” a Superior Honor Award from the US Department of State, and other personal, service, unit, and campaign awards.
Ed Case proudly represents Hawaii's First Congressional District. Congressman Case previously represented Hawaii's Second Congressional District from 2002 to 2007. He also served as Hawai'i State Representative from 1994 to 2002 in various positions including Majority Leader. Case attended Waiakea-Kai and Keaukaha Elementary Schools in Hilo before graduating from Hawai'i Preparatory Academy in Kamuela. He went on to graduate from Williams College in Massachusetts before working on Capitol Hill for three years as legislative assistant to US Representative/Senator Spark Matsunaga of Hawai'i. Following this first of three DC tours, Congressman Case graduated from University of California/Hastings College of Law in San Francisco before returning to Hawai'i to serve initially as law clerk to Hawai'i Supreme Court Chief Justice William Richardson. He then joined the Honolulu-based law firm of Carlsmith Ball, Hawaii's oldest, where for two decades he practiced litigation, property, transactional, business and government law and rose from associate to partner and managing partner. Following his initial service as US Representative, Case practiced law for seven years with the Honolulu firm of Bays Lung Rose & Holma, where he also served as managing attorney. He then served for five years as Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Outrigger Enterprises Group, one of Hawaii's oldest hotel and resort companies with properties throughout Hawai'i and the Indo-Pacific region. Case is married to Audrey Nakamura. Audrey was Ed's Hawai'i Prep classmate and worked for four decades as a flight attendant with Pan American and United. They have four children, a daughter-in law and now their first grandchild.
David R. Stilwell is the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to his appointment as Assistant Secretary on June 20, 2019, he served in the Air Force for 35 years, beginning as an enlisted Korean linguist in 1980, and retiring in 2015 in the rank of Brigadier General as the Asia advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He served multiple tours of duty in Japan and Korea as a linguist, a fighter pilot, and a commander. He also served as the Defense Attaché at the US Embassy in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, 2011-2013. Most recently, Mr. Stilwell served as the Director of the China Strategic Focus Group at US Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii 2017-2019 and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the East West Center in Honolulu from 2016-2019. He earned a B.S. in History from the US Air Force Academy (1987), and a Master’s Degree in Asian Studies and Chinese language from the University of Hawaii at Manoa (1988) and is a 2009 graduate of the Executive Leadership program at the Darden School, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was awarded the Department of Defense Superior Service Award in 2015. He speaks Korean, Chinese and limited Japanese.
Gloria D. Steele currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia, after leading the Bureau for Asia for nearly four years. Prior to this assignment, she served as USAID’s Mission Director for the Philippines, the Pacific Islands, and Mongolia, with a program budget of over $500 million from 2010-2015. Prior to being posted in Manila, Ms. Steele served as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Global Health. She assumed this position in January 2005, overseeing an average annual health program budget of $1.5 billion and a staff of 240. From 2001-2004, she served as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia. She also worked for seven years in the Bureau for Africa as an agricultural economist, and seven years in the Bureau for Science and Technology, overseeing applied research on key rural development issues such as land tenure, access to agricultural credit, food security, and natural resource management. Ms. Steele served for one year in the Bureau for Policy and Program Coordination, where she led the development of USAID’s first food security policy. Earlier in her career, Ms. Steele served as a Management Consultant to the Philippines' Secretary of Agriculture, and taught Business Economics at Letran Graduate School for Business in Manila. Ms. Steele received a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University, and a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Maryknoll College in the Philippines. Her awards include a Presidential Meritorious Executive Award in 2007, Presidential Distinguished Executive Awards in 2008 and 2018, and the Order of Sikatuna award from the President of the Philippines in 2015.
Satu Limaye is Vice President of the East-West Center and the Director of the East-West Center in Washington where he created and now directs the Asia Matters for America initiative and is the founding editor of the Asia Pacific Bulletin. He is also a Senior Advisor at CNA Corp (Center for Naval Analyses) and Senior Fellow on Asia History and Policy at the Foreign Policy Institute at Paul H. Nitze School of International Studies (SAIS). He is a graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) where he was a George C. Marshall Scholar. Recent publications include: “America’s ‘Pacific Principle’ in an Indivisible Pacific Islands Region,” (Asia Pacific Bulletin); “Despite Stumbles, America’s Engagement with Southeast Runs Deep,” (Global Asia); Raging Waters: China, India, Bangladesh, and Brahmaputra Water Politics (Marine Corps University Press); and Russia’s Peripheral Relevance to US-Indo Pacific Relations (Center for the National Interest).
