Announcing New Asia Program Fellows

• May 20, 2025

The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is pleased to welcome the appointment of three Asia Program Fellows.

Chris Estep is a Non-Resident Fellow in the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He has previously served as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs,  Special Advisor for National Security Communications to Vice President Kamala Harris, Press Secretary of the House Armed Services Committee, and a Communications Officer at the Center for a New American Security. He received a Master of Arts degree in Security Policy Studies from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in 2020, and he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Religion from Eastern Nazarene College in 2018. His commentary has appeared in Defense One, War on the Rocks, Lawfare, Business Insider, The National Interest, and more.

Carlos A. Salazar is a Non-Resident Fellow in the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) and Principal at International Systems Analysis, a research and consulting firm. His research focuses on the effects of technology, especially biotechnology, on power relations between states in the international system. He has been a Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories, where he conducted international engagement on biological safety and security. He received his PhD and MA from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BS in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

Merritt “Terry” Cooke is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). He is an internationally recognized expert on advanced technology, global semiconductor supply chains, and US-China-Taiwan geopolitical competition, particularly as it relates to artificial intelligence and the strategic rivalry over chips. A former senior US Foreign Commercial Service officer, Terry held top diplomatic trade posts in Taiwan, Shanghai, Berlin, and Japan. He is the founder of GC3 Strategy, a consulting firm that delivers strategic guidance on the “3 T’s”—trade, tech, and Taiwan—for navigating US-China business and policy risks. He has also held high-level affiliations with the World Economic Forum and the Woodrow Wilson Center, and has taught graduate-level courses at the University of Pennsylvania.