Michael Phelan joined USIP after working for 16 years in Congress and nearly 15 years on active duty in the U.S. Navy. He served as senior foreign policy advisor to the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He was responsible for United States policy and oversight for the African continent, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Prior to his Senate career, Phelan served on active duty as an aviator in the United States Navy and spent 22 years of military service in the Navy Reserve.

Phelan has effectively woven his operational and policy experience over the last three decades into an uncommon understanding of U.S. and global security and the imperative to work toward human security. Among other efforts, he helped organize and pass legislation establishing within the U.S. government an essential civilian capacity to engage in areas at risk of, involved in, or in transition from conflict. He has closely examined root causes of conflict and obstacles to its resolution.

Phelan has sought to improve international and domestic understanding and responses to misgovernance, as well as leveraging rare opportunities to transform geopolitical environments. He has also worked to strengthen regional cooperation for security and development in Central and South Asia, as well as across East, Central, and West Africa.

Phelan's academic credentials include a bachelor’s in English from Boston College; a master’s in foreign relations from the University of San Diego; a master’s equivalent in security studies from the German Armed Forces Command and General Staff College; and a master’s in law and diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is conversant in French and German.