Malcolm.mitchell

Derek James Mitchell
Derek James Mitchell Derek James Mitchell
Born	(1964-09-16)September 16, 1964 Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Occupation	Diplomat, policy expert
Nationality	American
Spouse	Lee Hun-min (a.k.a. Min Lee) (2006- )

Derek James Mitchell

Derek James Mitchell (born September 16, 1984) is an American diplomat and policy expert. He was recently appointed by President Barack Obama as the first Special Representative and Policy Coordinator to Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar) with Rank of Ambassador, and was sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on October 2, 2011.

Early Life, Education and Training

Mitchell was born in Atlanta, GA to Malcolm S. Mitchell, M.D., an academic medical oncologist and tumor immunologist, and Charlotte Mitchell (née Mendelsohn), a homemaker, while his father was serving in the U.S. Public Health Service. His parents later settled in Orange, Connecticut, a suburb of New Haven, where he attended elementary, middle and high school. Mitchell graduated with a B.A. in Foreign Affairs, with a concentration in Soviet Studies, from the University of Virginia in 1986. He served as an aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy from 1986 to 1988, working on foreign affairs as Assistant to Senior Foreign Policy Adviser Gregory Craig, later White House Counsel under President William Clinton. An excellent pianist, Mitchell also played at social events in and around Washington, including public and private functions for Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy.

From December 1988 to June 1989, he worked as Copy Editor, business, editorial and local news pages, at The China Post, Taipei, Taiwan the largest English-language daily newspaper on Taiwan, where he first learned Mandarin Chinese. He attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, MA, from 1989-1981, where he studied United States and East Asian Diplomatic History and Public International Law, and was awarded a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship for the 1990-91 school year. He received a Master of Arts degree in Law and Diplomacy in 1991, earning a certificate for proficiency in Mandarin Chinese. He further studied Mandarin at Nanjing University, Nanjing, China, in the summer of 1990, and is now rated "proficient" in the language.

Career

Mitchell worked as Senior Program Officer for Asia (1993-1996) and the Former Soviet Union (1996-1997) at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, Washington, D.C. There he developed NDI’s long-term programmatic approach to Asia, and conceived, organized, managed, and conducted training in democratic development programs in new and emerging democracies, including Armenia, Burma, Cambodia, Georgia, Pakistan, and Thailand. Prophetically for his recent appointment, he produced a 10-minute testimonial video on Daw Aung San Suu Kyii for NDI’s 1996 W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award luncheon, which honored the Burmese democracy leader. He conceived and directed the project, including extensive interviews with the subject spanning 1993 to 1997.

From 2001 to 2009 he was a Senior Fellow, Director for Asia, and Director of the Southeast Asia Initiative, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington, D.C., as part of the International Security Program. He conceived, developed, and implemented a wide variety of programs related to U.S.-Asia and Asian intra-regional affairs, and managed a highly active team of scholars. Mitchell also conducted all fund-raising for the program, which had a more than $1 million budget. He established CSIS’s first dedicated Southeast Asian studies program, and in 2008-2009 led a major study on the future of U.S. relations with regional allies (Thailand, Philippines) and other emerging partners (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam). During this time Mitchell was a Visiting Scholar (April to June 2007) at Peking University, School of International Studies, acting as a researcher and guest lecturer at China’s premier academic institution. He also served in 2002-2006 as an independent consultant to Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc., providing advice and insight on Taiwan’s political and social environment to that Virginia-based consulting firm involved in assisting the Republic of China’s government with defense and homeland security needs.

Mitchell was appointed Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, Office of the Secretary of Defense by President Obama, serving from 2009 until October 2011. His duties included performing as second-in-command to the Assistant Secretary of Defense, responsible for Asia defense policy and more than 100 personnel encompassing three areas: East Asia, South and Southeast Asia, and Afghanistan/Pakistan/Central Asia. He also served as acting Assistant Secretary of Defense in his absence. Mitchell helped to shape and guide the direction of U.S. defense policy in Asia through regular contact with Secretary of Defense, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, and senior-level dialogues with interagency colleagues. He also led the conduct of public outreach and drafted speeches outlining the Department of Defense’s strategic approach to East, Southeast and South Asia. He traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, including China, Japan, Thailand, Viet Nam and Cambodia.

On April 14, 2011 President Obama appointed Mitchell to be the first U.S. Special Representative and Policy Coordinator to Burma, with Rank of Ambassador ,. He is charged to negotiate directly with the leaders of a regime that has been in power for over 40 years and known for its repressive policies towards its own people, causing the United States to institute sanctions on the country. Since his appointment Mitchell has renewed his friendship with Daw Aung San Suu Kyii, and toured the country, at a time when a possible “thaw” in the relationship of the two countries has been noted, with the recent release of a number of political prisoners in the fall of 2011.

Political activities

In the past Mitchell was active on behalf of the Democratic Party, working in California in 1988 (Dukakis/Bentsen), where he was Personnel Director for Field Operations, managing more than 500 grass-roots organizers for first field operation ever organized in California for a presidential campaign. In 1992 he was Logistics and Operations manager of the United Democratic Campaign (1992, Clinton-Gore, Boxer, Feinstein) in California, for the field program that spanned 20 offices from San Luis Obispo to San Diego.

Personal Life

Mitchell was married to Lee Hun-min (a.k.a. Min Lee) a TV journalist from Taiwan on April 30, 2006. He has two older brothers, Jeffrey S. Mitchell (born May 3 1960) and Roderick K. Mitchell (born May 26, 1962), and a younger half-brother, Ian D. Mitchell (born April 13, 1987).

Bibliography

Books/Chapters

Co-author (with C. Fred Bergsten, Bates Gill, and Nicholas Lardy), China: The Balance Sheet – What The World Needs To Know Now About the Emerging Superpower, Public Affairs, 2006. Author of chapter entitled “China’s Foreign and Security Policy: Partner or Rival?”

Co-editor (with C. Fred Bergsten, Bates Gill, and Nicholas Lardy), The China Balance Sheet in 2007 and Beyond, Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Petersen Institute for International Economics, 2007. Author of three chapters: “China and the Developing World,” “China and Russia,” and “China and India” (with Chietigj Bajpaee).

Co-editor (with Joshua Eisenman and Eric Heginbotham), China and the Developing World: Beijing’s Strategy for the 21st Century, ME Sharpe, 2007. Author (with Carola McGiffert) of opening chapter, “Expanding the ‘Strategic Periphery’: A History of China’s Interaction with the Developing World.”

Co-author (with C. Fred Bergsten, Bates Gill, and Nicholas Lardy), China’s Rise: Challenges and Opportunities, Petersen Institute for International Economics Press, 2008. Author of three chapters: “Why Does the United States Care About Taiwan,” “China’s Military Modernization,” and “China and the World.”

Journals

“Crisis in the Taiwan Strait?” (with Kurt M. Campbell). Foreign Affairs. July/August 2001.

“Asia’s Forgotten Crisis: A New Approach to Burma” (with Michael Green). Foreign Affairs. November/December 2007.