Dr. Kaush Arha

Dr. Arha is the architect of Trusted Connectivity, a framework for a free, open and connected world, constituting the democracies’ response to global infrastructure gap.  Trusted Connectivity was the theme for the 2021 Tallin Digital Summit, where the concept was enthusiastically welcomed by the high representatives of the United States, European Union, Australia, Estonia, Poland and OECD.  He is a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and the Center for Technology & Diplomacy at Purdue respectively.    

Dr. Arha served as USAID’s Senior Advisor on Strategic Engagement where he led the global agency-wide framework to counter malign actions of the United State’s adversaries. He co-chaired, with the USAID Deputy Administrator, the Clear Choice Executive Council comprised of the Agency leadership to operationalize U.S. National Security Strategy in executing U.S. development assistance and diplomacy in the global competitive space.  Dr. Arha served as a thought leader and architect of United States economic and development engagement in emerging economies in the era of Great Power Competition (GPC) with focus on digital economy, energy, infrastructure and democracy & governance.  He played a formative role in the design of U.S. regional strategies including the Indo-Pacific Strategy, America Crece, Prosper Africa, Central Asian Strategy, Counter Malign Kremlin Influence etc. Dr. Arha served the U.S. G7 Sherpa for Blue Dot Network for high quality infrastructure. He was the architect and key actor of several U.S. foundational alliances in the GPC era including the Japan-U.S. Strategic Energy Partnership (JUSEP) and Japan-U.S. Strategic Digital Economy Partnership (JUSDEP), US-Japan Free & Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) Dialogue, US-EU Connectivity collaboration; 5G & Digital Empowerment by democracies in emerging markets; US-Three Seas cooperation; US-India, US-Estonia & US-ROK development partnerships.  

Dr. Arha previously served as a Senior Advisor Transition at US Embassy Kabul where he coordinated with GIRoA, ISAF and coalition partners in the completion and execution of the first tranche of the Transition Strategy. As Senior Coordinator for Agriculture he also directed the US inter-agency agricultural assistance in building Afghan Agricultural economy.  Prior to that Dr. Arha served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Associate Solicitor General, Department of the Interior.  He has been a practicing attorney and a visitor professor. He began his career as a senior executive for the State of Wyoming.  He received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and his JD from Stanford University.