Vikram Singh

Vikram Singh is the senior defense advisor to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also manages the Information and Communication Cell for the Special Representative. Before joining Ambassador Holbrooke's staff, he was senior director for counterinsurgency policy at the Pentagon and a member of the Department of Defense team for the White House Strategy Review for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Vikram returned to government service in February 2009 after two years as a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, or CNAS, in Washington, DC. At CNAS he worked on Afghanistan and Pakistan, Asia policy issues, and a range of defense strategy and planning projects. Before joining CNAS, Vikram worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense on policy issues including stability operations and counterinsurgency capabilities; disaster response and humanitarian assistance; oversight of peacekeeping missions; and the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review. From 1999 through 2001, Vikram managed a five-country Ford Foundation project on minority rights and security in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka at the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Colombo. He also covered Sri Lanka's civil war and reported from South Africa for the Voice of America. Vikram is the author of several CNAS reports and has written for publications ranging from The New York Times to Armed Forces Journal. While at CNAS, he was a regular commentator on television and radio, including CNN, FOX and PBS. Vikram holds a B.A. in history from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.A. in international security policy and human rights from Columbia University.