Philip J. Reiner

Philip J. Reiner is a U.S. national security professional, most recently serving as President Obama’s Senior Director for South Asia at the National Security Council.  During his tenure as Senior Director, Mr. Reiner successfully led U.S. government efforts to revitalize the U.S.-India bilateral relationship, marked by two head-of-state level engagements in less than six months, to include the historic visit of President Obama as Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2015.  Mr. Reiner served at the NSC for three years prior to his role driving the President’s South Asia policy, first as Director for Pakistan and then as Senior Advisor for Afghanistan and Pakistan.  He has engaged in a broad range of both public and private sector roles throughout his career, utilizing strategic vision and executive-level problem solving experience to drive the engagement and actions necessary to make the world a better place for all, one step at a time.  He is an expert in the international politics and security of East and South Asia, and has lived and traveled extensively in Japan and India as well as throughout the region, studying its history, languages and the sitar.  His expertise is broad ranging, to include long-term strategic planning, crisis and risk management, strategic stability, contingency planning, counterterrorism, countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the role of economics, finance and trade as the underpinnings of international security.

Mr. Reiner has a Master's degree in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Religions with a minor in History from the University of California at Santa Barbara.  He is a recipient of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service, has completed an executive education course on Leadership in the 21st Century at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, has taught classes on the national security policy making process at George Washington University as a guest lecturer, is a certified Six Sigma specialist, and volunteers as a member of the Northern California UCSB Campaign Committee.