CFR Welcomes Chris McGuire as Senior Fellow for China and Emerging Technologies

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is pleased to welcome Chris McGuire to the David Rockefeller Studies Program, CFR’s think tank, as senior fellow for China and emerging technologies.

Mr. McGuire served as a career government official and is a leading expert on U.S.-China technology competition and emerging technologies. As part of CFR’s China Strategy Initiative, he will research policies to preserve U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and other emerging technologies, as well as how export controls and other technology protection policies can help protect U.S. technological advantages.

“I am delighted to welcome Chris to our Studies Program,” said Shannon K. O’Neil, senior vice president, director of studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg chair. “Chris’s expertise in U.S.-China relations and technology, combined with his wide-ranging government experience, will bolster CFR’s ability to provide critical analysis that helps policymakers compete with China and advance U.S. economic security.”

Mr. McGuire previously served as the deputy senior director for technology and national security at the National Security Council (NSC). In that capacity, he coordinated government policies related to technology competition with China, AI, and semiconductors, and he helped manage the NSC directorate focused on critical and emerging technologies. During his tenure at the NSC, Mr. McGuire crafted and implemented technology protection strategy, including semiconductor and dual-use technology export controls, outbound investment policy, policies related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and other technology regulations.

Mr. McGuire’s government career has spanned three presidents and four administrations. In addition to his service at the NSC, he has also worked as a senior advisor in the Department of State and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, as a special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Department of Defense, and as the director for research and analysis on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. He also served as the State Department’s lead subject matter expert on U.S.-Russia nuclear weapons and arms control policy. Before entering government, Mr. McGuire worked at McKinsey & Company in New York.

Mr. McGuire holds a BA from Pomona College and an MPP from Harvard Kennedy School.