David Gordon’s activities span the worlds of business and finance, public policy and diplomacy, and scholarship. He is Senior Advisor for Geo-Economics and Strategy for The International Institute for Strategic Studies, having formerly served as Eurasia Group's Chairman, and provides clients with insight into global macro issues and US politics and policy. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Gordon is a retired diplomat and intelligence officer, having spent more than ten years working at the highest levels of US foreign and national security policy.   From 2007 to 2009, David served as Director of Policy Planning for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He played a leading role in developing policy on issues ranging from Afghanistan and Pakistan to US engagement in East Asia to the multilateral response to the international financial crisis. He also led the State Department's strategic dialogues with more than 20 countries around the globe.

Prior to this work with the US State Department, David was Vice-Chair of the National Intelligence Council (NIC) from 2004 to 2007, during which time he led the NIC's integration into the new Office of the Director of National Intelligence and its re-emergence as the preeminent analytic center in the US government through enhancing analytic quality and integrity in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq National Intelligence Estimate. He provided analytic leadership for the NIC's groundbreaking reports, Global Trends 2015 and Global Trends 2020.  He is the four books and numerous articles and op-eds.

His most recent book “Managing Strategic Surprise: Lessons from Risk Management and Risk Assessment,” published by Cambridge University Press,  was co-edited with Ian Bremmer and Paul Bracken.

David holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan and has taught at Michigan, Michigan State, William and Mary, Princeton, and the University of Nairobi.