W. Brent Christensen is director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto Embassy to Taiwan. For the past year, Christensen has served as senior level career development advisor in the State Department’s Human Resources Bureau. Prior to that, he served as the Foreign Policy Advisor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS). Other overseas postings include Hong Kong and South Africa, and he served as a Congressional Fellow on the staff of Senator Olympia Snowe. Before joining the Foreign Service, Christensen served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force.