Charles Dunst is deputy director of research & analytics at The Asia Group and an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. His reportage and analysis have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and The Telegraph, among other publications. Defeating the Dictators: How Democracy Can Prevail in the Age of the Strongman is his first book.

Parker Novak is a Nonresident Fellow with the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub and Indo-Pacific Security Initiative. In this role, he focuses on Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific region. He is also the Deputy Government Relations Director for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, a bipartisan advocacy group that works across the United States to make development and diplomacy programs a keystone of American foreign policy.

Previously, Novak served as the International Republican Institute's Indonesia and Timor-Leste director, living in Jakarta and Dili as their senior in-country representative. To date, he has lived in six countries and worked on 17, establishing a proven track record of adaptability, problem solving, and versatility in often challenging environments. He is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is frequently called upon as a subject matter specialist. His analysis and writing have been featured by several media outlets, including ABC Australia, Al-Jazeera, Australian Financial Review, BBC World News, CNN, Nikkei Asia, Sydney Morning Herald, and more.

He started his career as an aide to then-U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and working on political campaigns in the United States and Australia. He holds a master’s degree in Political Management and Global Politics from George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from The Ohio State University. He resides in Washington, DC.