Professional Affiliation

Center for Strategic and International Studies Southeast Asia Program

Expert Bio

Ernest Bower is currently Senior Adviser and Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Southeast Asia Program.  Prior to joining CSIS, he formed BrooksBowerAsia, a consulting firm specializing in the Asia-Pacific region.  Before that, he served for a decade as President of the US-ASEAN Business council working with government and private-sector leaders form the United States and Southeast Asia.  He also engineered key private-sector initiatives such as the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement Coalition, the U.S.-APEC Business Coalition, and numerous other initiatives.  Mr. Bower serves on the boards of the Special Olympics Asia, the United States-New Zealand Business Council, and the United States-Indonesia Society.  He also served on the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on Trade and Investment.  Mr. Bower received his B.A. from Colgate University.