top of page

Michael MacArthur Bosack

Founder & Director

Biography

Michael MacArthur Bosack is an international negotiator, peacebuilding practitioner, and security expert. He is the Founder and Director of the Parley Policy Initiative, where he leads a multinational team working on global challenges related to negotiation, crisis management, peacebuilding, war termination, and postwar policy. Concurrently, he serves as Special Advisor for Government Relations at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies.

 

Previously, Michael was Deputy Secretary of the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission, where he was responsible for developing and implementing strategies to enforce the Korean Armistice Agreement, negotiating with the Korean People’s Army, and facilitating diplomatic efforts between the Republic of Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and all states affiliated with UN Command. His work focused on crisis management and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Michael previously served as a Foreign Area Officer in the U.S. Air Force, culminating his military career as Deputy Chief of Government Relations at Headquarters, U.S. Forces Japan. There, he contributed to the negotiation and implementation of the 2015 Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation. During his military career, he deployed twice to Afghanistan, serving in Helmand and Kandahar Provinces, and also supported international security cooperation efforts in Trinidad and Tobago related to the development of the country’s search and rescue fleet.

 

Michael graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 2007 with a B.S. in History and Foreign Area Studies. He was subsequently awarded the East-West Center’s Graduate Degree Fellowship, through which he completed an M.A. in Asian Studies at the University of Hawai'i and earned a graduate certificate in Leadership Studies. Later selected as a Mansfield Fellow, he worked within Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and National Diet.

 

He completed his doctoral studies at the International University of Japan’s Graduate School of International Relations. Michael's Ph.D. research examined alliance theory and intergovernmental negotiations. His broader research interests include North Korean politics and foreign policy, crisis diplomacy, alliance management, and the role of negotiation in conflict resolution and war termination.

 

He is the author of Negotiate: A Primer for Practitioners (2022), editor of The Australia-Japan Special Strategic Partnership (2026), and co-editor of Underwriting the U.S.-Japan Alliance (2026).

Bosack_Headshot.jpg
Parley Publications

bottom of page