Daniel P. Erikson serves as the special assistant to the President and senior director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council. Prior to this role, he was the deputy assistant secretary of defense (DASD) for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Erikson previously held the position of managing director at Blue Star Strategies, LLC, where he led the firm’s Latin America practice representing US corporations across Latin America and the Caribbean and Latin American businesses with interests in the United States. He was also a senior fellow at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.

Previously, Erikson served in the White House as special advisor to the Vice President, where he focused on Western Hemisphere Affairs and covered foreign affairs and national security issues. Erikson helped lead the Obama Administration’s efforts to secure $750 million in assistance for the Northern Triangle of Central America, and to deepen support for Colombia’s peace process. In 2015, Erikson was a member of the State Department negotiating team that re-established US-Cuba diplomatic relations for the first time since 1961. In June 2017, he received the US Department of State’s Superior Honor Award for his diplomatic contributions in Latin America.

In addition to his US government experience, Erikson previously served as director of Caribbean Programs and senior associate for US Policy at the Inter-American Dialogue. A widely published scholar, he is the author of several award-winning books and has contributed chapters to numerous edited volumes.

Erikson was an event speaker at the Dialogue.