Nik Foster is a strategist specializing in emerging technology, energy, and the global south. With a career spanning government, international development, and energy security, he brings a global perspective to the intersection of economics, technology, and geopolitics.

Nik has advised senior U.S. policymakers on competition with China, global energy dynamics, and the design of cross-border economic frameworks. His work integrates policy, strategy, and communications to support clients in rapidly shifting markets.

Most recently, Nik served as Deputy China Advisor at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He co-authored the agency’s China strategy and oversaw its implementation across more than eighty countries. In addition, he led USAID’s Economic Coercion Task Force and represented the agency in the White House Countering Economic Coercion Task Force.

Before joining USAID, Nik worked on international energy security projects in Pakistan and Ukraine and led planning for energy and water resilience across U.S. Department of Defense installations. Earlier in his career, he co-wrote the U.S. Department of Energy’s Distributed Wind Market Report and led communications for the Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project, the largest smart grid initiative in the world at the time.

Nik is a Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s China Hub and holds an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he focused on Chinese energy policy.