Daniel Shields

Ambassador (ret.) Daniel Shields is Editorial Advisor to the Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs, lectures, teaches, and conducts simulations relating to diplomacy and the Indo-Pacific. The institutions he collaborates with include the U.S. Army War College, the University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy, and the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Before retirng from the U.S. State Department in 2018, he served on detail from State, starting in 2015, as the Diplomatic Advisor to the Commandant at the Army War College. In that capacity, he helped educate future strategic leaders on how to integrate the diplomatic, informational, military, and economic (DIME) instruments of power to achieve national security objectives. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam from 2011-14. He led two other U.S. diplomatic Missions in Southeast Asia as Chargé d’Affaires (acting Ambassador): the U.S. Mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta and U.S. Embassy Singapore.

His earlier assignments were mainly in Japan and China, including as Political Minister Counselor at Embassy Beijing from 2004-07. He speaks Japanese and Chinese. His first tour in the Foreign Service was as a Vice Consul at Embassy Manila from 1985-87, where he reported to Washington on the People Power demonstrations and the fall of the Marcos regime. He has an M.S degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College and a B.S.F.S. degree in International Affairs from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University