Dr. Prashanth Parameswaran

Prashanth is a recognized scholar, commentator and expert on geopolitical and geoeconomic developments across Asia. He has spent nearly two decades analyzing the region, with a focus on Asia’s politics and security, U.S. foreign policy and Southeast Asia.  

Prashanth is concurrently a fellow at the Wilson Center, a senior columnist at The Diplomat magazine and an instructor for institutions including the U.S. State Department. He is the founder of the twice-weekly ASEAN Wonk newsletter, which offers research insights and analysis on the geopolitics and geoeconomics of Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. 

Prashanth has held various roles across think tanks, governments, media and companies. He previously served as deputy head of research at BGA, where he helped build out the company’s research and communications products. Prior, he served as senior editor at The Diplomat, where he helped build up the publication’s on-the-ground focus on defense and geopolitics and co-hosted its weekly podcast. His insights have been published in international outlets including CNN, The Straits Times, Nikkei Asia, South China Morning Post and Foreign Policy. His book Elusive Balances: Shaping US Southeast Asia Strategy, published in 2022, developed an original framework for understanding major geopolitical power commitments.  

Prashanth holds a PhD and an MA focused on international business, international relations and U.S. foreign policy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He earned a BA from the University of Virginia.. A Sri Lankan Tamil, educated as an ASEAN citizen across Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, he has traveled extensively in the Indo-Pacific.