Dr. Andrew Byers is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia. In this role, he serves as the principal advisor to senior leadership within the Department of Defense for all policy matters pertaining to development and implementation of defense strategies and plans for the region. His area of responsibility includes fostering bilateral and multilateral defense relationships within South and Southeast Asia, as well as defense-related issues in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Previously, Dr. Byers has worked in counterproliferation, counterterrorism, homeland security, and technology development. He formerly taught military history, geopolitics, and grand strategy at Duke University and was most recently affiliated with the Texas A&M University’s Albritton Center for Grand Strategy.

Dr. Byers holds a Ph.D. and a Master’s Degree in History from Duke University. Additionally, he holds a Master’s Degree in National Security Studies from Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and a Bachelor’s Degree in History and Political Science from Virginia Tech.