Mr. James Ballas is the Former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Security Cooperation. In this role, Mr. Ballas supervised the Department’s multi-billion dollar security cooperation enterprise and provided guidance to the Department on security cooperation priorities globally. His office manages the implementation of wide-ranging reforms to the Department’s security cooperation authorities pursuant to Title 10, Chapter 16, Security Cooperation, including oversight of strategic policy and resource allocation.

Mr. Ballas previously served as the Director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs. He led a team responsible for advising on policy and strategy with respect to China, U.S.-Taiwan defense relations, Hong Kong, and U.S. defense cooperation with Mongolia. Previously he served as the Country Director for China with responsibilities for leading confidence building measures in the U.S.-China defense relationship, strategic security issues, and risk reduction initiatives. Mr. Ballas joined the Office of the Secretary of Defense in 2008 as a Presidential Management Fellow and was assigned to the Department of State and the Department of Treasury before permanent assignment to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He worked in Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, where he was the Deputy Director for Global Threats. In this capacity, he led DoD counter threat finance policy efforts to disrupt terrorist and insurgent financing.