Johnny
Walsh

Johnny Walsh is a senior fellow for National Security and International Policy at American Progress. Walsh was the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) deputy assistant administrator (DAA) for the Middle East from 2024 to 2025, and DAA for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance from 2021 to 2023. His other recent governmental roles include serving as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of Homeland Security, National Security Council special adviser, and senior policy adviser at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. From 2017 to 2021, he was a senior expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Earlier in his career, Walsh served civilian tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he has extensive additional policy experience on the Arab Gulf countries, Yemen, Pakistan, and North Africa.

Walsh holds a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies and a bachelor’s degree in international history, both from Harvard University. He is also an accomplished musician who co-composed an opera entitled “Tear a Root From the Earth,” which draws on his service in Afghanistan using Afghan and American folk music to chronicle the two countries’ recent history together.