Alexander B. Gray is a nonresident senior fellow with the GeoStrategy Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He is the chief executive officer of American Global Strategies, an international strategic advisory firm that he co-founded with former US National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien. In addition to the day-to-day management of the firm, Gray’s wide-ranging practice includes the defense, aerospace, maritime, and technology sectors.
Gray most recently served as deputy assistant to the president and chief of staff of the White House National Security Council (NSC), where he directed the daily operations of the national security advisor’s immediate office, as well as the budget, personnel, and security functions of the NSC. Previously, he served in the White House as special assistant to the president for the defense industrial base at the National Economic Council and as the first-ever director for Oceania and Indo-Pacific security at the NSC. Earlier, Gray was a member of the 2016 Presidential Transition Team at the US Department of State and served as senior advisor to former US Congressman J. Randy Forbes (R-VA).
Gray, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, a senior nonresident fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute, a senior advisor at the Marathon Initiative, and a former member of the Nixon Seminar on conservative realism and national security, sponsored by the Richard Nixon Foundation. Gray was a visiting research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei and served as an international election observer for Bangladesh’s 2024 parliamentary elections. He currently serves as chairman of the Oklahoma China Readiness Working Group, convened by the Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs.
Gray also currently serves as a strategic counselor at Ballard Partners, a nationally recognized government and public affairs firm, and serves on the board of directors of Citizen Capital, an Oklahoma City-based merchant bank, and the Policy Council of Paradigm, a cryptocurrency investment firm. He previously served on the advisory board of Fairbanks Morse Defense, an equipment manufacturer for the US Navy and Coast Guard.
His writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, the Washington Times, the Oklahoman, National Review, Newsweek, the National Interest, the Hill, the Weekly Standard, Naval War College Review, Strategic Studies Quarterly, and Proceedings. Gray has also appeared on television and radio programs in the United States, Taiwan, Japan, India, South Korea, and Australia. Gray has testified before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation; the Subcommittee on Indian & Insular Affairs (within the US House Committee on Natural Resources); and the State Legislatures of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. He is currently writing a book on US strategy in the Pacific Islands.
A recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and the National Security Council’s Outstanding Service Award, Gray’s other recognitions include Maverick PAC’s “Future40” and OKC Friday’s “Oklahoma’s Most Powerful Young Professionals.” He has been named an “Honorary Commander” by Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City.
He is a graduate of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University (BA in international affairs) and attended Oklahoma State University.