Michael J. Finnegan is a founding Partner of New Magellan Venture Partners LLC. Prior to his retirement from active duty in November 2008, he served in the United States Army, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel with over 27 years of Commissioned and Non-Commissioned service. Since 1987, he served exclusively in the Asia-Pacific area. As a Foreign Area Officer specializing in the political-military affairs of Northeast Asia, he served as the Senior Country Director for Korea for the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2003 to 2007, where he was responsible for Department of Defense policies related to the Korean Peninsula, and most recently served as a Special Assistant for Regional Strategy in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs. He holds an A.M. in Regional Studies East Asia from Harvard University and is a Senior Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Asian Research in Washington, D.C. He is also a graduate of the Republic of Korea Army Staff College and speaks Korean. As a researcher, he has published several papers and articles on Northeast Asian security issues, including prospects for multilateral security cooperation in Northeast Asia, trilateral security relations between the U.S., Japan and PRC, regional implications of ballistic missile defense, future security strategies for Korea, and Republic of Korea Armed Forces modernization efforts. His current research efforts include issues related to the U.S.-ROK security alliance, U.S.-Japan security alliance, U.S.-ROK-Japan trilateral cooperation, and energy and environmental security in Northeast Asia, as well as questions related to constructing a peace and security regime on the Korean Peninsula and Korean unification.