Ambassador (ret) James F. Moriarty, Pacific Forum Senior Advisor, served as the Chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) from 2016 to 2023. Since then, he has worked as a consultant on national security affairs, with an emphasis on Indo-Pacific issues.
Moriarty served previously as U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh (2008-2011) and Nepal (2004-2007). He was Special Assistant to the President of the United States for the Indo-Pacific region and served in the National Security Council (2001-2004).
During his 36-year career as a U.S. diplomat, Moriarty worked primarily on East and South Asian issues. He headed the political sections in AIT’s Taipei office (1995-98) and the U.S. Embassy in Beijing (1998-2001). He helped shape the US response to the Taiwan Strait missile crisis of 1995-1996 and US actions following the 1998 bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and China’s 2001 downing of a US EP-3. During an earlier tour in Beijing (1989-91), he worked on Communist Party and political-military issues in the post-Tiananmen era. He also has worked with the private sector in the United States and overseas.