Dr. Haroro J. Ingram is the country director for the Philippines at USIP. He is responsible for the strategic design, implementation planning, and in-country management of USIP’s Philippines program.

Ingram has almost two decades of government, academic and private sector experience. He began his career in government roles ranging from national security operations against non-state threats to strategic-policy in defense preparedness largely focused on managing great power competition in the Asia-Pacific.

Much of his professional experiences since leaving public service in 2014 have involved designing and implementing peace and security programs in conflict-impacted areas and advising on influence operations, particularly strategic communications, across the government and private sectors.

Ingram has held academic positions at the Australian National University and George Washington University and has been a visiting scholar at institutions such as the Naval Postgraduate School. He has written for publications such as Oxford University Press, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Foreign Policy, War on the Rocks, and Foreign Affairs.

Publications By Haroro

Boiling the Frog: China’s Incrementalist Maritime Expansion

Boiling the Frog: China’s Incrementalist Maritime Expansion

Thursday, June 13, 2024

For over three decades, Beijing has deployed an initially slow but now accelerating campaign to degrade Philippine maritime rights and access in the West Philippine Sea. This long-term effort has been characterized by often seemingly benign actions and even conciliatory rhetoric interspersed with escalatory words and deeds designed to test the thresholds of neighbors and allies. Today, China’s rising aggression in the West Philippine Sea and broader South China Sea has pushed the region to the precipice of conflict.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

A Rising Philippines Faces a Crucial Year Ahead

A Rising Philippines Faces a Crucial Year Ahead

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

By virtue of its geography alone, the Philippines is arguably Southeast Asia’s most strategically important country. Yet its actual influence has tended to lag its potential due to decades of socioeconomic struggle and internal instability, especially in its restive southern island of Mindanao. In recent years, however, the Philippines has rapidly emerged as one of the most consequential countries in the Indo-Pacific, driven in large part by President Ferdinand Marcos’ transformative policies on national security, defense and foreign relations.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

The Indo-Pacific’s Newest Minilateral Emerges

The Indo-Pacific’s Newest Minilateral Emerges

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Last week, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stepped foot in the Oval Office for the second time in a year. Joining Marcos this time was Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the leader of the United States’ most important ally in Asia and, arguably, the world. The Philippines has long been among a second rung of regional allies, so this first-ever trilateral summit marks Manila’s entrance as a leading U.S. ally working to maintain order and prevent Chinese revisionism in East Asia.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

U.S., Japan, Philippines Strengthen Strategic Bonds to Counter China

U.S., Japan, Philippines Strengthen Strategic Bonds to Counter China

Thursday, April 4, 2024

Next week’s U.S.-Philippines-Japan summit comes against the backdrop of heightened tensions between Manilla and Beijing in the South China Sea, known as the West Philippines Sea in the Philippines. Last month alone saw two incidents of China’s so- called “gray zone” activities, with Chinese ships colliding with Philippines Coast Guard vessels on March 5 and blasting a Philippines supply boat with a water cannon on March 23. These disputes in the West Philippines Sea — an issue on which U.S., Japanese and Philippine interests closely align — will feature prominently when President Joe Biden, Philippine President Ferdinando Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minster Fumio Kishida meet in Washington on April 11.

Type: Question and Answer

Conflict Analysis & PreventionGlobal Policy

The Cascading Risks of a Resurgent Islamic State in the Philippines

The Cascading Risks of a Resurgent Islamic State in the Philippines

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

On December 3, militants placed a bomb amongst parishioners gathered for Catholic Mass on the floor of the Mindanao State University (MSU) gym in Marawi City. Minutes later, it detonated killing four and injuring dozens. The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed that its East Asia affiliate was responsible for the attack. After a year of heavy losses, many had hoped that the threat posed by pro-ISIS groups was dissipating. Unfortunately, the violence that has characterized the six weeks since the bombing suggests that the Islamic State East Asia (ISEA) is attempting a resurgence timed for a critical 16-month period for the Philippines. The stakes are very high.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionViolent Extremism

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