Joshua Walker

Joshua Walker

• Senior Vice President, Chief International Affairs Officer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Joshua W. Walker, Ph.D., chief international affairs officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, leads global policy, trade, investment, and international engagement efforts, working with business leaders, policymakers, and partners around the world to advance American competitiveness and strengthen international economic relationships.

Walker brings over two decades of experience at the intersection of global business, foreign policy, and institutional leadership. Most recently, he served as president and CEO of the Japan Society, where he expanded the organization’s policy, business, and cultural engagement while convening heads of state, cabinet ministers, CEOs, and thought leaders on issues ranging from economic security and technology to diplomacy and cultural exchange.

Prior to that, he served as global head of Strategic Initiatives and Japan at Eurasia Group, working in the Office of the President to advance the firm’s global priorities and international partnerships.

Earlier in his career, Walker held senior leadership roles in the private sector, including as president and CEO of the USA Pavilion at the 2017 World Expo in Astana, Kazakhstan, founding dean of the APCO Institute, and senior vice president of Global Programs at APCO Worldwide. Before that, he served in roles across the U.S. government, including at the departments of State and Defense.

A recognized thought leader on international affairs and global business, Walker is the bestselling author of Beyond the Genkan and the Japanese-language bestseller Turning Point of the Alliance. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, and Newsweek.

He serves as the Abshire Chair and senior fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. He is a Presidential Leadership Scholar, a British American Project Fellow, and a co-founder of the Yale Journal of International Affairs.

Walker earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond, was a Fulbright Fellow at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Türkiye, received his master’s degree from Yale University, and earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University. Raised in Japan as the son of American educators and missionaries, he speaks English, Japanese, and Turkish and lives in the Washington, D.C., area with his wife, Megan, and their two children.