Beacon Global Strategies Founder Michael Allen Discusses Geopolitical Competition with Russia and China

Michael Allen with Past President Betsy Holloway and Rotarians Trey Echols and Dave Stewart

This week the Rotary Club of Birmingham welcomed Michael Allen, Beacon Global Strategies, Inc. Founder and Managing Director. Rotarian Trey Echols moderated a discussion with Allen concerning U.S. geopolitical competition with Russia and China.

Allen discussed his background and how his firm advises companies around the world at the points where their businesses intersect with national security and foreign policy. He explained that international business leaders are increasingly focused on geopolitical risk and competition with respect to Russia and China.

Allen traced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine back to the collapse of the Soviet Union, evaluating the implications for Europe, the U.S. and the rest of the world. He explained that this will be a pivotal year in the conflict once the winter weather dissipates and stressed the importance of continued support for Ukraine.

“I think it’s in the national interest for the United States, not just out of the good-natured charity of Americans to support freedom and democracy, and democracies versus autocracies.”

Allen also explored the challenges posed by China, the inextricable link between the U.S. economy and trade in Asia, and our strategic alliance with Taiwan.

“If the Chinese begin to get bigger and push us out of the South China Sea and out of Asia, they will be calling the shots in the biggest economic zone in the world.”

Allen explained that despite economic, political and social turbulence, the U.S. maintains fundamental strength in the accumulated knowledge and innovation of our citizens and the abundance of opportunity that continues to draw people to our country.

“We still have all these fundamentals going for us—freedom, democracy, open economy, entrepreneurship, and the rest that will win in the end, but it’s harder work in a democracy because we have to bring everybody on board,” Allen said. “I think that’s the key.”

About Michael Allen
Michael Allen has spent his career in the national security arena including in the White House, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the private sector. Currently, Mr. Allen is Managing Director of Beacon Global Strategies LLC which advises clients on the intersection of business and national security. Mr. Allen is a frequent commentator on national security and foreign policy issues on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox and is the author of Blinking Red, Crisis and Compromise in American Intelligence after 9/11 (Potomac Books, 2013). He is also the recipient of the National Intelligence Superior Public Service Medal.

In the White House from December 2001- January 2009, Mr. Allen served in a variety of national security policy and legislative roles. At the National Security Council (NSC), he served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counter-proliferation Strategy from June 2007 to January 2009 under National Security Advisor Steve Hadley. As the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Legislative Affairs, Mr. Allen served as the NSC’s chief liaison with the national security committees of Congress (March 2005 to June 2007). From December 2001 to February 2005, Mr. Allen worked in the legislative affairs office of the White House’s Homeland Security Council.  At the beginning of the Bush Administration, Mr. Allen worked in the Bureau of Legislative Affairs at the Department of State.

From 2011-2013, Mr. Allen served as the Majority Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). Under Chairman Mike Rogers’ (R-MI) direction, the HPSCI oversaw, authorized, and funded all intelligence programs across the eighteen elements of the intelligence community and led the House of Representatives’ consideration of cyber security legislation.

Prior to joining the HPSCI, Mr. Allen was director for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s successor to the 9/11 Commission, the National Security Preparedness Group, which was co-chaired by former Congressman Lee Hamilton and former Governor Tom Kean. Mr. Allen taught National Security Policymaking at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs and served as an advisor for the congressionally created Commission on WMD and Terrorism.

Mr. Allen is currently an executive board member with the Forum for American Leadership, an organization dedicated to strong defense and intelligence, an active foreign policy and free and fair trade. He is a founder and board member of the Reagan Institute Strategy Group a member of the National Leadership Council of the Ronald Reagan Institute. He is also a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, an advisory board member of National Security Institute at George Mason University and is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations. Mr. Allen was a Commissioner on the CSIS Intelligence Task Force (January 2021).

Previously, Mr. Allen was the Intelligence Team Lead for the Romney for President Transition Team and later the John Hay Initiative.

Mr. Allen received his L.L.M. with distinction in International Law from the Georgetown University Law Center, his J.D. from the University of Alabama (cum laude), and his B.A. from Vanderbilt University. In addition to Blinking Red: Crisis and Compromise in American Intelligence After 9/11 (Potomac Books, 2013), Mr. Allen also authored “Reforming National Intelligence: The 9/11 Commission,” in Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Congress (Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress, 2014) and has published several op-eds including in The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Policy.