Ambassador Cristopher R. Hill and Dr. Kaush Arha New Senior Advisors to the Pupin Initiative

We are honored to welcome Ambassador Christopher R. Hill and Dr. Kaush Arha as Senior Advisors to the Pupin Initiative. Their appointments mark an important step in expanding the Pupin Initiative’s presence and engagement in Washington, DC, while remaining firmly committed to our non-partisan mission of fostering stronger ties between Serbia and the United States.

Ambassador Hill and Dr. Arha bring decades of experience in diplomacy, public policy, and strategic affairs. They have already contributed to our work through various forms of engagement and support, and we are confident that their continued involvement will offer valuable insight and leadership as we further our mission.

Ambassador Cristopher R. Hill

Ambassador Hill is a veteran U.S. diplomat with a distinguished career in American foreign service. He most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to Serbia (2022–2024), after previous ambassadorial postings in Iraq, South Korea, Poland, and North Macedonia. He also served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and led the U.S. delegation in the Six-Party Talks on North Korea. Ambassador Hill remains a widely respected figure in Democratic foreign policy circles.

Dr. Kaush Arha

Dr. Arha is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and founder of the Free & Open Indo-Pacific Forum. He previously served in the Trump Administration as Senior Advisor for Strategic Engagement at USAID, where he played a key role in shaping strategic initiatives across Asia and Europe. Dr. Arha was the architect of the Japan-U.S. Strategic Energy Partnership and the Japan-U.S. Strategic Digital Economy Partnership—two key bilateral forums coordinating interagency cooperation between Washington and Tokyo. He has been an influential actor in the biannual U.S.-Japan Free and Open Indo-Pacific Dialogue, and is actively involved in the Three Seas Initiative and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) project, with a special focus on Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region. He remains deeply connected to Republican foreign policy circles and U.S. congressional leadership.