Please join US Ambassador for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Matt Murray and Dr. Amitav Acharya for a fireside chat to discuss the role of APEC, the US Host Year, and how the US is finding synergy between economic cooperation and security concerns throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Hear from Ambassador Murray about how APEC is working to meet their priorities of creating a resilient and sustainable future for all this year.

Following the discussion, students will have the unique opportunity to network with members of the State Department staff working on these issues, meet professionals in this field, and learn how to pursue a career at the intersection of economics and security in the US and Asia-Pacific region.

Light refreshments will be available during the networking.

Bios:

Matt Murray was appointed as the US Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in February 2022. In this role, he coordinates US participation in APEC and also oversees the Office of Economic Policy in the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Prior to his current assignment, Matt led the State Department’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs (EB) as Senior Bureau Official from August 2021 to January 2022, and he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Trade Policy and Negotiations from September 2020 to August 2021.

Matt has focused on US economic engagement with the Asia Pacific region throughout his State Department career, including as Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs at the US Embassy in Beijing, Counselor for Economic Affairs at the US Embassy in Canberra, and Special Assistant for East Asian and Pacific issues in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment.

Matt is a Senior Foreign Service Officer who also has served overseas in Beijing, Shanghai, Dar es Salaam and New Delhi and in Washington, DC as Director of the 24/7 Watch in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He has master’s degrees from the US Army War College and the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s degree from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.

Amitav Acharya is the UNESCO Chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance and Distinguished Professor at the School of International Service, American University, Washington, DC. Previously he was a Professor at York University, Toronto and the University of Bristol, U.K. He is currently Honorary Professor at Rhodes University, South Africa, and Guest Professor at Nankai University, China.

He was the inaugural Boeing Company Chair in International Relations at the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University, Fellow of Harvard’s Asia Center and John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Christensen Fellow at Oxford. His books include Re-imagining International Relations (Cambridge 2022, with Barry Buzan), The Making of Global International Relations (Cambridge 2019: with Barry Buzan); Constructing Global Order (Cambridge 2018); The End of American World Order (Polity 2014, 2018); Why Govern? Rethinking Demand and Progress in Global Governance (editor, Cambridge 2016); The Making of Southeast Asia (Cornell 2013); and Whose Ideas Matter (Cornell 2009). His essays have appeared in International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Asian Studies, Foreign Affairs, Journal of Peace Research, International Affairs, Perspectives on Politics, and World Politics. He has written op-eds for Financial Times, International Herald Tribune (now International New York Times) Washington Post, Times of India, Australian Financial Review, and other newspapers around the world, and appeared on news media such as CNN International, BBC TV and BBC World Service Radio.

He is the first non-Western scholar to be elected (for 2014-15) the President of the International Studies Association (ISA), the largest and most influential global network in international studies. He has received three ISA Distinguished Scholar Awards: in 2015 for his "contribution to non-Western IR theory and inclusion” in international studies, in 2018 for his “influence, intellectual works and mentorship” in the field of international organization; and in 2023 for his “extraordinary impact” in globalizing the study of International Relations and “mentorship of emerging scholars”. He is also a recipient of American University’s highest honor: Scholar-Teacher of the Year Award (2020).

APEC and the Emerging Indo-Pacific Architecture