Damian Murphy is the senior vice president of National Security and International Policy at American Progress. He has more than 25 years of international affairs experience as a leader, chief policy adviser, program director, analyst, and political party trainer. Over the past 15 years in the Senate, he served in several foreign policy roles including as staff director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and as the senior policy adviser for foreign policy, defense, and homeland security for Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA).
Prior to working on Capitol Hill, Murphy worked for more than a decade to advance the democratic process, human rights, and good governance abroad at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, Freedom House, and the Center for Democracy. Through these organizations, he trained democracy activists and human rights defenders throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. He lived in Belgrade, Serbia, after the fall of Slobodan Milošević, working with government officials, political activists, and civil society leaders to rebuild their country’s democratic institutions. While living in Nepal, he worked with civil society activists to identify strategies to reintegrate rebel fighters into society following the civil war. Domestically, Murphy served as the national field director for the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign, a coalition that advocates for U.S. engagement abroad and a robust international affairs budget. He has also volunteered on several political campaigns.
Murphy has a bachelor’s degree from the Catholic University of America and a master’s degree in international security studies from Georgetown University.