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Dr. Thomas F. Lynch III is Acting Director of the Center for Strategic Research (CSR), Institute of National Strategic Studies (INSS), at the National Defense University (NDU) in Washington, DC. He also is the INSS Distinguished Research Fellow for South Asia, the Near East, and Countering Radical Islam. His primary ongoing research is about India’s strategic rise and implications for Great Power rivalry and Indo-Pacific security and stability. Among his many open-source publications are “The Growing Entente Between India and Japan,” The National Interest (March/April 2019) and “The Decades-Long ‘Double-Double Game’: Pakistan, the United States, and the Taliban,” Military Review (July/August 2018). Dr. Lynch received a bachelor of science in engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a master of public administration, and a master of arts and doctor of philosophy in international relations from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
Dr. Hassan Abbas is Distinguished Professor of International Relations in the Near East South Asia Strategic Studies Center in Washington, DC, and a former Professor of International Security Studies in the College of International Security Affairs at NDU. He serves as a senior advisor at Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs in the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. He is the author of The Taliban Revival: Violence and Extremism on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Frontier (Yale University Press, 2014) and Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb: A Story of Defiance, Deterrence and Deviance (Oxford University Press, 2018). Dr. Abbas received a doctor of philosophy and master of arts in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, a master of laws in international law from Nottingham University in the United Kingdom, and a master of arts in political science from Punjab University in Pakistan.
Dr. Zachary M. Abuza is a Professor of National Security Strategy in the National War College at NDU, where he focuses on Southeast Asian politics and security issues, including governance, insurgencies, democratization and human rights, and maritime security. He is the author of five books, including Forging Peace in Southeast Asia: Insurgencies, Peace Processes, and Reconciliation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016); Conspiracy of Silence: The Insurgency in Southern Thailand (United States Institute of Peace, 2009); and Militant Islam in Southeast Asia: Crucible of Terror (Lynne Rienner, 2003). In addition, Dr. Abuza has authored four monographs on security issues in Southeast Asia. He is currently working on a study project about Thai counterinsurgency strategy. Dr. Abuza received a doctor of philosophy and master of arts in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a bachelor of arts in Asian studies from Trinity College.
Dr. Justin Anderson is a Senior Policy Fellow in the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD), INSS. He conducts research on deterrence, arms control, and nuclear weapons issues, and he also serves as a Special Advisor to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. He is co-author of “The INF Treaty: A Spectacular, Inflexible, Time-Bound Success,” Strategic Studies Quarterly 13, no. 2 (Summer 2019). Dr. Anderson is a 2003 Marshall Scholar and received a doctor of philosophy and master of arts in war studies from King’s College London.
Dr. Richard Andres is a Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College, where he directs the college’s course of study on strategy. He has served in a number of policy positions, including advisor to the Secretary of the Air Force, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command/Director of the National Security Agency. He currently holds faculty or board positions in the School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University, Security Studies Program at Georgetown University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and American Enterprise Institute. Dr. Andres’s research focus is on the national security implications of information technology. He received a bachelor of arts in international finance from Fresno Pacific University and a doctor of philosophy in political science from the University of California, Davis.
Dr. David Auerswald is a Professor of Security Studies at the National War College, a position he has held since 2001. He has written books and articles on the geopolitics of the Arctic, North Atlantic Treaty Organization interventions, and the U.S. national security policy process. Dr. Auerswald is a former congressional staffer. He received a doctor of philosophy and master of arts in political science from the University of California San Diego and bachelor of arts in both political science and English literature from Brown University.
Mr. Paul Bernstein is a Distinguished Policy Fellow in CSWMD. He leads the center’s practice in strategic security analysis and is engaged in policy support, research, and professional military education activities related to WMD, nuclear policy, deterrence, missile defense, threat reduction, and regional security. He works in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Joint Staff, combatant commands, and defense agencies. He is co-author most recently of “Russia’s Hypersonic Weapons,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (December 2019) and a subject matter expert contributor to John A. Stevenson, Power Under Parity (NSI, Inc., September 2019). Mr. Bernstein holds a master of arts in international affairs from Columbia University.
Dr. R. Kim Cragin is the Senior Research Fellow for Special Operations and Counterterrorism in CSR. Dr. Cragin has conducted research on irregular warfare for over 20 years. Prior to joining INSS in 2015, she was a senior political scientist at RAND. Dr. Cragin has published widely in academic and policy journals. Her ongoing research focuses on proxy warfare in the Middle East and North Africa. Other recent publications include “Preventing the Next Wave of Foreign Terrorist Fighters,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (February 2019) and “Metastasis: Exploring the Impact of Foreign Fighters in Conflicts Abroad,” Journal of Strategic Studies (November 2017). Dr. Cragin’s book, co-authored with Sara A. Daly, Women as Terrorists: Mothers, Recruiters, and Martyrs (Prager Security International) was released in 2009. She received a master of public policy from Duke University and a doctor of philosophy in history from Cambridge University.
Dr. Diane DiEuliis is a Senior Research Fellow in CSWMD. Her research focuses on emerging biological technologies, biodefense, and preparedness for biothreats. Her expertise includes synthetic biology; the U.S. bioeconomy; dual-use life sciences research; and behavioral, cognitive, and social sciences. She is author most recently of “Key National Security Questions for the Future of Synthetic Biology,” Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 43, no. 1 (Winter 2019). Dr. DiEuliis received a doctor of philosophy in biology from the University of Delaware.
Dr. Gerald Epstein is a Distinguished Policy Fellow in CSWMD. He works at the intersection of science, technology, and security policy, particularly on the governance and security implications of advanced life, biotechnologies, and other emerging and converging technologies. He recently completed service on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee responsible for writing Safeguarding the Bioeconomy (The National Academies Press, 2020). Dr. Epstein received a doctor of philosophy in astrophysics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Mr. Douglas Farah is a Visiting Senior Fellow in CSR. He is the president of IBI Consultants, a national security consulting firm. Previously, he worked as a foreign correspondent and investigative reporter to the Washington Post for more than 20 years, covering Latin America and West Africa. He is an expert on national security, transnational crime, illicit finance, and nonstate armed actors. Mr. Farah has provided testimony before House and Senate committees, presented at security conferences across the hemisphere, and published two books. He received a bachelor of arts in Latin American studies and bachelor of science in journalism from the University of Kansas.
Dr. T.X. Hammes is a Distinguished Research Fellow in CSR. He has served at all levels in the operating forces, including commanding an intelligence battalion, infantry battalion, and the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force during his 30-year career in the Marine Corps. He participated in stabilization operations in Somalia and Iraq as well as training insurgents in various places. He is the author of 3 books and over 170 articles. He lectures extensively on the future of conflict, strategy, and insurgency in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Dr. Hammes received a bachelor of science in operations analysis from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master of arts in historical research and a doctor of philosophy in modern history from Oxford University.
Dr. Todd C. Helmus is a Senior Behavioral Scientist at RAND and a faculty member at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His specializations include disinformation, terrorism, and strategic communications. His most recent work has focused on countering Russian disinformation campaigns in the United States and Europe and countering violent extremism through analyzing Twitter networks. Dr. Helmus served as a deployed advisor to U.S. commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan and has led studies on U.S. training of Afghan special forces. He received a doctor of philosophy in clinical psychology from Wayne State University.
Dr. Frank G. Hoffman is a Distinguished Research Fellow in CSR. His principal research focus is national security and defense strategies, defense economics, and joint force development. In addition to his research duties, Dr. Hoffman teaches strategy at the National War College and future warfare in the Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy at NDU. His most recent article is “The Missing Element in Crafting National Strategy: A Theory of Success,” Joint Force Quarterly 97 (2nd Quarter 2020). His forthcoming book is Mars Adapting: Military Change in War (Naval Institute Press). Dr. Hoffman received a bachelor of science in economics from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. He also received a master of education from George Mason University and a master of arts in national strategic studies from the U.S. Naval War College. He holds a doctor of philosophy in war studies from King’s College London.
Dr. Steven Philip Kramer is Professor of History at NDU, serving in INSS. He focuses on the application of history to the development of policy and national strategy. He is an authority on French and European history and politics and was a senior policy advisor in the Department of State. His books include Socialism in Europe: The Experience of a Generation (Westview Press, 1984); Does France Still Count? The French Role in the New Europe (Praeger, 1994); and The Other Population Crisis: What Governments Can Do About Falling Birth Rates (Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2013). Dr. Kramer has written articles in Foreign Affairs, Washington Quarterly, and Politique Etrangère. His most recent publication is “France’s Muslim Predicament,” The National Interest (April 2020). He received a doctor of philosophy in history from Princeton University.
Dr. Irene Kyriakopoulos is Distinguished Professor of National Security Policy in INSS, where she teaches and co-leads the European Studies Concentration program. She has lectured and written widely on the economic dimensions of security and the political economy of European integration. Her work has been published by the Brookings Institution, NDU Press, Defense Management Journal, Joint Force Quarterly, Mediterranean Quarterly, Intereconomics, and World Economics. The focus of her recent research has been on Europe’s debt crisis and migration policies with related publications, including “In the Name of the Euro: What Have the EU’s Policies Achieved in Greece?” Intereconomics (November/December 2014) and “Europe’s Responses to the Migration Crisis: Implications for European Integration,” INSS Strategic Insights (April 2019). Dr. Kyriakopoulos received a bachelor of science in economics from the University of Maryland and a master of arts and doctor of philosophy in economics from The George Washington University.
Dr. Bryce Loidolt is a Research Fellow in INSS, where his research focuses on security cooperation and unconventional warfare. Previously, he was a defense analyst at RAND. His work has appeared as RAND monographs, as well as in academic journals such as Terrorism in Political Violence, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and Legislative Studies Quarterly. Dr. Loidolt received a bachelor of arts in Middle East studies from Middlebury College, a master of arts in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a doctor of philosophy in political science from The George Washington University.
Ms. Amanda Moodie is Director of the Program for Emerging Leaders and a Policy Fellow in CSWMD. Her policy support focuses on the international legal regimes that regulate the proliferation of chemical and biological weapons. Her research interests include the history of chemical and biological weapons, compliance and enforcement of chemical and biological weapons law, and international assistance in the event of a chemical or biological weapons attack. Ms. Moodie is co-author of “The Virus of Disinformation: Echoes of Past Bioweapons Accusations in Today’s COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories,” War on the Rocks (April 2020). She received a bachelor of arts in political science and English from Duke University and a master of arts in law and diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
Dr. Mariya Omelicheva is a Professor of Strategy at the National War College. Her research and teaching interests include international and Eurasian security, counterterrorism and human rights, democracy promotion in the post-Soviet territory, Russia’s foreign and security policy, and terrorism/crime nexus. She is the co-author, with Lawrence P. Markowitz, of Webs of Corruption: Trafficking and Terrorism in Central Asia (Columbia University, 2019) and author of Democracy in Central Asia: Competing Perspectives and Alternate Strategies (University Press of Kentucky, 2015) and Counterterrorism Policies in Central Asia (Routledge, 2011), which received an Outstanding Academic Title Award by Choice. Dr. Omelicheva received a doctor of philosophy in political science from Purdue University and a doctor of jurisprudence in international law from the Moscow National Law Academy.
Dr. James Przystup is a Senior Research Fellow in CSR. For over 30 years, he has concentrated on U.S. relations with the Indo-Pacific region. He has served on the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, as Deputy Director of the Presidential Advisory Commission on U.S.-Japan Relations, on the Policy Planning Staff of the State Department, as Director for Regional Security Strategy in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and as Director of the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation. Dr. Przystup graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts in history from the University of Detroit. He received a master of arts in international relations and a doctor of philosophy in diplomatic history from the University of Chicago.
Dr. Phillip C. Saunders is Director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs, INSS. He previously worked at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, where he served as Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program from 1999 to 2003, and worked on Asia policy issues as an officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1989 to 1993. Dr. Saunders is co-author, with David Gompert, of The Paradox of Power: Sino-American Strategic Restraint in an Era of Vulnerability (NDU Press, 2011) and co-editor of seven books, including Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms (NDU Press, 2019) and PLA Influence on China’s National Security Policymaking (Stanford University Press, 2015). He also has edited NDU Press books on Chinese contingency planning, China-Taiwan relations, the Chinese navy, and the Chinese air force and published numerous articles and book chapters on China and Asian security issues. Dr. Saunders received a bachelor of arts in history from Harvard University and master of public administration and doctor of philosophy in international relations and affairs from Princeton University.
Dr. Shannon Smith is a Professor of Practice and Director of Engagement in the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at NDU. Prior to joining the Africa Center, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, where she oversaw U.S. East and Southern Africa policy and led Africa Bureau efforts on Sudan and South Sudan, global health, and the environment. Dr. Smith has also served as the Senior Policy Adviser for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Africa, global health, and peacekeeping issues and previously as the National Security Adviser for the Assistant Majority Leader of the Senate. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Texas A&M University and received a doctor of philosophy from Cornell University.
Ms. Caitlyn Yates is the Research Coordinator at IBI Consultants and in CSR. Previously, she worked as a Research Associate in the Mexico Security Initiative, Strauss Center for International Security and Law, at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work focuses on human security, organized crime, transit migration, and borders in Latin America. She has presented her work before the United Nations, to government agencies and departments, and at academic conferences. Ms. Yates received a bachelor of arts in anthropology from Trinity University and a master of global policy studies from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.