Phillip Orchard

Phillip Orchard is an analyst at Geopolitical Futures. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Orchard spent nearly six years at Stratfor, working as an editor and writing about East Asian geopolitics. He’s spent more than six years abroad, primarily in Southeast Asia and Latin America, where he’s had formative, immersive experiences with the problems arising from mass political upheaval, civil conflict and human migration. Mr. Orchard holds a master’s degree in Security, Law and Diplomacy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, where he focused on energy and national security, Chinese foreign policy, intelligence analysis, and institutional pathologies. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas. He speaks Spanish and some Thai and Lao.

Latest From Author

Wolf War and Peace

Chinese President Xi Jinping did the unexpected earlier this month during a speech delivered to a Politburo study session: He told his government to focus on cultivating a “trustworthy, lovable and respectable” image of China. That’s not the same as being trustworthy, lovable and respectable. But it stood out because Beijing, in both word and […]

Southeast Asia’s Strategic Disunity

Just about any time the Association of Southeast Asian Nations makes news, it seems to be for doing a whole lot of nothing. That's certainly been the case this...

What We’re Reading: Ugly History

The Jakarta Method By Vincent Bevins “The Jakarta Method” traces the evolution of U.S. Cold War anti-communist tactics in the Third World (his word, not mine, which, as he points out,...

The US and South Korea’s Shaky Alliance

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will arrive in Washington for a state visit this week with the U.S.-South Korean alliance appearing to have regained its footing. South Korea is...

Why China Wants the Spratlys

For several months, China has been relentlessly asserting its control over disputed parts of the South China Sea. Hundreds of vessels in the Chinese maritime militia – lightly armed...

What We’re Reading: The Future of War and History of Hip-Hop

2034: A Novel of the Next World War By Elliot Ackerman and Adm. James Stavridis “2034: A Novel of the Next World War” is the latest novel in an emerging genre...

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