BIO

Matthew O’Connor is a senior Foreign Service Officer at the Department of State and Professor of International Studies at the United States Army War College.

Mr. O’Connor’s most recent State assignment was as senior energy officer in the Bureau of Energy Resources. Prior to that, he served as the political-military chief at U.S. Embassy Seoul. Before Seoul, he was the principal officer (consul general-equivalent) of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in Kaohsiung from 2017-2020; the senior Australia desk officer in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP) Office of Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Island Affairs from 2015-2017; and political-military chief at U.S. Embassy Baghdad from 2014-2015.

He has also served as political-military chief at Consulate General Naha (Okinawa), in the economic sections of AIT/Taipei and U.S. Embassy Tokyo, and at Consulate General Shanghai as both a consular and economic officer.

Before joining the Department of State, he worked as a financial analyst in Washington, D.C.

A native of Prince George’s County in the state of Maryland, Mr. O’Connor graduated from the University of Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Plan II and Georgetown University with a Master of Science in Foreign Service. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese.

Contact

matthew.oconnor.civ@armywarcollege.edu