Christian Whiton

Senior Fellow, Strategy and Trade

Christian Whiton is a senior fellow for strategy and trade at the Center.  He was a senior advisor in the George W. Bush and Donald J. Trump administrations.

In the Trump administration, Whiton was a senior advisor for strategic communications at the State Department.  He advised the new administration on public diplomacy, media, and East Asia issues.  On the presidential transition, he served as an advisor to the Secretary of State, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and ambassadors to Israel and Japan for their Senate confirmations.

During the Bush administration, Whiton was first a speechwriter for the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, covering issues such as governance, science, and international law enforcement cooperation.  Subsequently, he was the Deputy Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Issues.  Whiton established the Office of the Special Envoy and worked to build international pressure on North Korea, including through limiting the country’s access to foreign trade and capital.  He oversaw the U.S.-India Global Issues Forum, which included trade, science, and other transnational issues.

Whiton has held communications and policy roles on several presidential campaigns, including the Giuliani (2008), Gingrich (2012), and Cruz (2016) campaigns.

Outside of government, Whiton has focused on trade, public affairs, corporate communications, and political risk analysis, including as a principal for DC International Advisory. From 1996-2000, he worked for the corporate finance practice of KPMG LLP, where he oversaw daily activities of mergers and acquisitions engagements.

Whiton earned undergraduate degrees in History and Economics from Tulane University and won the Sidney Beyer Prize for Excellence in American History.  He holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Whiton is the author of “Smart Power: Between Diplomacy and War” (Potomac Books), appears frequently on Fox Business and Fox News, and has also appeared on BBC, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, NHK, Sky News, and other networks.  His articles have been published by the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Time, Daily Caller, Quillette, and numerous other publications.