Dan Twining

Dr. Daniel Twining joined the International Republican Institute as President in 2017. He leads IRI’s team of global experts to link citizens and governments, motivate people to engage in the political process, and guide politicians and government officials to be responsive to citizens. IRI has worked in over 100 countries and is a core institute of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Previously, Dr. Twining served as Counselor to the President and Director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund, as a Member of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s Policy Planning Staff handling Asia during the George W. Bush administration, as the Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. Senator John McCain, and as a staff member of the U.S. Trade Representative. He has been an Associate of the U.S. National Intelligence Council, taught at Georgetown University, and served as a military instructor associated with the Naval Postgraduate School.

Dr. Twining serves on the Bush Institute’s Advisory Council, Microsoft’s Human Rights Advisory Council, and the Washington Post Intelligence Council. He testifies regularly before the U.S. Congress on international affairs, has been a columnist for Foreign Policy and Nikkei, and has written for Foreign Affairs, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and other publications. He has served as an advisor to six presidential campaigns. He graduated with highest distinction from the University of Virginia and from 2004-7 was the Fulbright/Oxford Scholar at Oxford University, where he earned his MPhil & DPhil. He has been personally sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party.