Stephen Johnson has more than 20 years of wide ranging experience in western hemisphere affairs that spans policymaking, policy advocacy, and public affairs in the U.S. Department of Defense, the Washington policy community, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Air Force.

From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Johnson served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs. He oversaw the development and execution of policies, strategies, and programs governing hemispheric defense and security ties, involving two regional combat commands and three military academic institutions. He led U.S. delegations to ministerial-level defense talks, advised on regional security assistance, and helped shape hemispheric defense policies in support of homeland security. His office doubled the number of bilateral defense partnerships throughout the hemisphere and aided interagency development of the Mérida Initiative to reduce drug violence in Mexico and Central America.

Before that, Mr. Johnson served as a senior foreign policy analyst at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. He testified before Congress and authored seminal studies on Latin American politics, trade, and security, as well as public diplomacy, youth gangs, and immigration. He has arranged and spoken at numerous conferences in the United States and in Latin America. His commentaries have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald, National Review Online, Business Week, Fox News.com, Washington Times, Long Island Newsday, Diario Las Américas, and El Comercio (Peru). His broadcast appearances included CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, Univisión, Telemundo, BBC, RCN-TV (Colombia), WorldNet TV, and the Voice of America.

Johnson also served in the Bureaus of Inter-American and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. A former Air Force officer, he was a pilot, a military attaché, and as a member of the Air Force Reserve, served in the Office of Public Affairs of the Secretary of the Air Force and at U.S. Southern Command. Johnson has lived in El Salvador, Honduras, Uruguay, and observed elections in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Nicaragua.