Aroop Mukharji, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor National Security Affairs
Aroop Mukharji faculty photo

Biography

Dr. Aroop Mukharji studies diplomatic history, decision-making, and international relations, specializing in the presidencies of William McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt. From 2022-2024, he served as Senior Advisor for Economic and National Security to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce. In that role, he supported the Deputy Secretary on a range of intelligence, technology, and national security-related issues and led the drafting and development of the Commerce Department’s national security strategy. Dr. Mukharji writes in peer-reviewed as well as general audience publications, and hosted two interview podcasts and video series during his PhD. He hails from Kansas.

Contact Information

Areas of Expertise

  • Asia-Pacific
  • Diplomacy
  • Economics
  • Foreign Policy
  • International Relations
  • National Security
  • Policy

Professional Highlights

2024

Assistant Professor of National Security Affairs, U.S. Naval War College

Joined the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island as a tenure-track professor.
2022

Senior Advisor for Economic and National Security, U.S. Department of Commerce

Served as the lead national security advisor to U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves during the largest expansion of Department national security work in memory. Initially appointed and placed as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow.
2020

Postdoc Fellow and Visiting Scholar, Tufts Fletcher School

Undertook postdoctoral research and analysis at the Center for Strategic Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
2015

Interview Host, Office Hours and Snack Break

Founded and hosted two video and podcast series during Ph.D., interviewing a variety of academics and practitioners. Office Hours was housed and co-developed at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School.
2010

Marshall Scholar

Spent two years doing graduate work in the United Kingdom on an academic scholarship funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (now Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office).
2009

Junior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Assisted senior fellows at the foreign policy think tank.

Education

Ph.D., Harvard University, 2020, Public Policy

M.A., King's College London, 2012, International Peace and Security, with Distinction

M.Sc., London School of Economics, 2011, International Relations, with Merit

B.A., Williams College, 2009, Mathematics and Political Science, phi beta kappa and magna cum laude

Research Contributions and Publications

William McKinley Jr.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, 2024

The Meddler’s Trap: McKinley, the Philippines, and the Difficulty of Letting Go
International Security, 2023

The Psychology of Stickiness: What America Can Learn From its Annexation of the Philippines in 1898
War on the Rocks, 2022

The Blind Spots of Diplomatic History
War on the Rocks, 2022

Unity Through Education: How America Can Heal its Wounds by Learning From its Past
Journal of Applied History, 2021

Review of Charlie Laderman, Sharing the Burden: The Armenian Question, Humanitarian Intervention and Anglo-American Visions of Global Order
H-Diplo, 2021

The Curious Phenomenon of Academic Telephone: Alternative Facts in History
Center for Strategic Studies at the Tufts Fletcher School, 2021

What One Word Teaches Us About the Uncertainty of American Empire
War on the Rocks, 2021

Bound to Happen: Explanation Bias in Historical Analysis
Co-authored with Richard Zeckhauser
Journal of Applied History, 2020

The Central American Conundrum: Toward a New Regional Security and Economic Order
War on the Rocks, 2020

Back Channel Negotiations and Dangerous Waiting
Co-authored with Richard Zeckhauser
Negotiation Journal, 2018

Diplomas and Diplomacy: The History of the Marshall Scholarship
Palgrave Macmillan, 2016 (preface by then-sitting British Secretary of State, Sir Philip Hammond MP)

Egypt’s Regime Will Change: Here’s How to Cushion the Blow
The New Republic, 2010

In Colombia, Democracy is Stirred but not Shaken
Co-Authored with Robert Kagan
Washington Post, 2010

Awards and Decorations

International Affairs Fellow
Council on Foreign Relations, 2022-2023

Non-Resident Fellow
Eurasia Group Foundation (now Institute for Global Affairs), 2022

Rogerson Cup Award for Alumni Service
Williams College, 2021

"New Face" in International Security
Triangle Institute for Security Studies, 2020

International Policy Scholars Consortium and Network (IPSCON) Junior Scholar
2019-2020

Security Fellow
Truman National Security Project, 2019

Ernest May Fellow in History and Policy
Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 2018-2020

World Politics and Statecraft Fellow
Smith Richardson Foundation, 2018

History and Public Policy Fellow
Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, 2017-2018

Grant Recipient
Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, 2017-2018

Graduate Fellow
The Tobin Project, 2017

Grant Recipient
Harvard University’s Center for American Political Studies, 2017

Grant Recipient
Economic History Association, 2017

Grant Recipient
John Anson Kittredge Fund, 2017

Bok Center Certificate of Distinction in Teaching
Fall 2016

Marshall Scholarship
2010-2012

Junior Fellow
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2009-2010

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