Strategic Studies Research Team

CNA Strategic Studies

Eric V. Thompson, Ph.D. is vice president and director of CNA Strategic Studies of its International Affairs Group (IAG).  As a Middle East political and military affairs specialist, he has traveled extensively in North Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the Levant, working closely with U.S. and regional military and civilian leadership. His most recent work has addressed counterterrorism operations, security cooperation activities, military-to-military relations with Egypt, interoperability with Turkish and Algerian maritime forces, and coalition building for military operations in the CENTCOM region.

Thompson's research and analysis extends beyond the Middle East. He has led studies addressing interoperability with NATO navies, global force structure requirements, the implications of the deployment of theater ballistic missile defense systems, the use of distance learning technology in preparing for coalition operations, the effectiveness of Partnership for Peace programs, and future security cooperation priorities for the U.S. military.  

Thompson is also an adjunct professor at Catholic University of America, where he teaches graduate classes on terrorism and other national security issues. Prior to joining CNA, he was an adjunct professor of international relations and history at the Virginia Military Institute, where he taught courses in Middle East history, international relations and American government, and served as the director of the Model Arab League program.

International Affairs Group

Kenneth Gause, acting director of CNA's International Affairs Group, is a senior research analyst and a member of CNA's Iranian Studies Program team. He has directed several studies that focus on political, military, and security issues related to Iran and other Persian Gulf countries. His most recent work has been on the human and physical terrain of Iranian provinces, filling a major gap in the scholarship, namely life and politics outside of Tehran. Mr. Gause also oversees CNA’s work on foreign leaderships. While at CNA, he has also headed up several studies on Iranian leadership and decision-making at the national level. In 2009, he authored a study on the consequences of a distressed Iran, which examined current and future stresses on the regime. Mr. Gause began his career as a leadership analyst with the U.S. government, posted for three years in Moscow. Since the mid-1980s, he has worked for a number of defense-related think tanks, where he has strived to push the boundaries of leadership analysis.

Patricio Asfura-Heim is a political-military analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses/Center for Strategic Studies, International Affairs Group. His work has focused on Middle East, North Africa and South Asia affairs. His research interests include irregular warfare, security cooperation, and strategic communications. Mr. Asfura-Heim has spent a significant amount of time supporting U.S. Marine operations in Iraq and Afghanistan where he provided research and analysis on governance capacity building, rule of law, and engaging with customary tribal authorities and anti-insurgency religious networks. His recent work includes projects on anti-insurgency religious networks in Helmand Province, village defense unit forces in Afghanistan, tribal politics in North Africa, and disbanding Iraqi tribal militias. Asfura-Heim is the author of In Libya, Geography is Destiny, Politico (April 2011), Tribal Customary Law and Legal Pluralism in Al Anbar, Iraq, Customary Justice and the Rule of Law in War Torn Societies, Deborah Isser (ed.), USIP Press Books (July 2011). Victory in Afghanistan Part 2: Countering the Taliban Narrative through Credible Religious Voices, (with Patrick Carroll), Marine Corps Gazette (January 2011). Mr. Asfura-Heim holds his Juris Doctor and Masters in world politics from Catholic University of America.

Mary Ellen Connell is a Research Analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies. Prior to joining CNA in 2001, Ms. Connell was a Counselor in the United States Senior Foreign Service. For the past several years she has directed the CNA "Commanders' Series: Workshops on Geopolitical Interest to the U.S. Navy" and a regional strategic analysis project supporting the Commander and Deputy Commander, Naval Forces Europe. Beginning in 2007, she was also asked to direct similar projects for the Navy Criminal Investigative Service on national security issues and for the U.S. Central Command on regional topics. Ms. Connell holds a BA degree from Smith College and an M. Phil. from the University of Kansas. She is a graduate of the U.S. National War College and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (UK).

Michael Connell, Ph.D. is a member of the research staff at the Center for Naval Analyses and the Director of CNA’s Iranian Studies Program.While at CNA, he has authored several studies that focus on political, military, and security issues related to Iran and the other Persian Gulf countries. Dr. Connell served as CNA’s field representative to the headquarters of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), Bahrain. He has lectured at various domestic and international venues, including the Brookings Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, the Forum du Futur, American University, and Security for a New Century. Prior to joining CNA, Connell served as an officer in the U.S. Army and was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He earned his Ph.D. in History and Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University and his B.A. in Near Eastern Studies from Brandeis University. He also has a certificate in Persian studies from Tehran University.

Ralph Espach, Ph.D. is a Research Analyst in the International Affairs Group and Director of Latin American Affairs Program. His research at CNA focuses on inter-American political and security relations, and on partnership within Latin America and developing states in general. In recent projects he has assessed strategic decision making within the Venezuelan government, and has applied media content and tone analysis to estimate the attitudinal effects of humanitarian engagement missions in Latin America, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. Dr. Espach also has expertise in global environmental politics and international political economics. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese and has extensive experience conducting research across Latin America. Espach joined CNA in April 2007, after completing his Ph.D. work in political science at the University of California, Berkeley, and teaching international political economics at Seattle University. Prior to his graduate school work, he worked as Program Assistant at the Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center, where he led the Brazil Project and focused on issues of inter-American security. Espach has co-edited four books: The Strategic Dynamics of Latin American Trade (with Vinod K. Aggarwal, 2004), Latin America in the New International System (with Joseph S. Tulchin, 2000), Combating Corruption in Latin America (with Joseph S. Tulchin, 2000), and Security in the Caribbean Basin: the Challenge of Regional Cooperation (with Joseph S. Tulchin and Francisco Rojas, 2000).

Dmitry P. Gorenburg, Ph.D. is a Research Analyst in the International Affairs Groups. His main focus at CNA has been on foreign policy analysis of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He has worked on other projects, included a critical review of the Navy's Personnel Exchange Program, focusing particularly on the program's limitations due to U.S. national policy on disclosure to foreign nationals. He has also analyzed patterns of U.S. military responses to crisis situations around the world. Recently, he has focused on the future of U.S. security strategy and the most likely threats to U.S. security in the coming twenty years. Dr. Gorenburg received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science from Harvard University, and A.B. from the Wilson School of International & Public Affairs at Princeton University.

Henry J. ("Hank") Kenny, Ph.D. is a Research Analyst at CNA, where he has directed projects for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and the Pacific Command for the past 13 years. A Company Commander, Special Forces Team Commander, and Province Advisor in Vietnam, he directed Special Forces mission training for Vietnam at Ft. Bragg. Wounded during the Tet Offensive of 1968, he subsequently taught international relations at West Point, graduate courses on causes of war and theories of conflict resolution at American University and George Washington University, and international politics at the Institute for International Relations in Hanoi. He has served with the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the American Embassy Tokyo (Special Assistant to Mike Mansfield), and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is the author of "Unfinished Business in Afghanistan," "Smaller, Faster, Smarter: Retooling the Military to Combat Terrorist Threats," "Strengthening and Embattled Nation: A Strategy for Contenting with the Three Wars in Iraq," The American Role in Vietnam and East Asia, and other publications. His latest book, Shadow of the Dragon, analyzes the relationship between China and Vietnam and its implications for U.S. policy in Asia.

Michael C. Markowitz is a Senior Research Specialist. At CNA, Mr. Markowitz has designed, developed, tested and evaluated wargames for such sponsors as DARPA, the Naval War College, NAVCENT, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the CNO's Strategic Studies Group. His research interests include the design of analytic graphics and cartography, wargaming 21st century conflict, and the history of military applications of science and technology. Prior to joining CNA, he worked for many years in the aerospace industry as a technical writer and trainer on a variety of defense programs. He has taught college courses in basic statistics, research design, and social science theory. His published work includes journal articles on ancient history, hundreds of game reviews, and several award-winning tabletop wargames. He graduated from the University of Rochester with a BA in History, and the University of California, Irvine with an MA in Social Ecology. Mr. Markowitz's reading languages include Russian and Latin.

William McCants is an analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses, where he focuses on al-Qaeda, terrorism, and Middle Eastern politics. He is also adjunct faculty at Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School. From 2009-2011, McCants served as Senior Adviser for Countering Violent Extremism in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the U.S. State Department. Prior to that he was the program manager of the Minerva Initiative in OSD-Policy; an analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses and SAIC; and a fellow at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center. McCants is the founder of Jihadica.com, a group blog that explains the global jihadi movement. The blog has been featured on the cover of the New York Times and rated by Technorati as one of the top one hundred blogs on global politics. Wired magazine recently described it as “the gold standard in militant studies.” McCants is the editor of the Militant Ideology Atlas and the author of a forthcoming Foreign Affairs article on al-Qaeda. In 2005, he translated an Arabic book written by an al-Qaeda strategist. This fall, Princeton University Press is publishing McCants’ book Founding Gods, Inventing Nations: Conquest and Culture Myths from Antiquity to Islam. McCants has a PhD from Princeton in Near Eastern Studies.

Julia Voelker McQuaid is a Research Analyst in the International Affairs Group. Her work at CNA has focused on building partner capacity in Africa— particularly in the Gulf of Guinea—security cooperation/TSC, maritime security, counterterrorism, and strategic communications. Before joining CNA, she worked at the Middle East Institute as an editor on the Middle East Journal, a scholarly publication focusing on the politics and history of the Middle East and North Africa. Julia has also worked as a contractor for the National Defense University's Africa Center for Strategic Studies. She has lived and traveled in Morocco, at one point as part of a team conducting an assessment of the electoral process in that country as part of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). Ms. McQuaid's personal research interests include Arab political/military affairs, the Maghreb, terrorism and terrorist organizations, and political Islam. She speaks French and Arabic. Ms. McQuaid holds an MA from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and a BA in Political Science and French from Franklin & Marshall College.

Afshon Ostovar, Ph.D. is a Middle East and Iran analyst in the International Affairs Group at CNA and is a member of the Iranian Studies Program team. His present research incorporates a number of topics, including Iran’s expanding regional influence and anti-regime insurgencies in Iran. Additionally, he is preparing a book manuscript on Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which is an expansion of his doctoral dissertation “Guardians of the Islamic Revolution: Ideology, Politics, and the Development of Military Power in Iran” (2009). The most recent media coverage on his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Associated Press, and Chicago Public Radio. Dr. Ostovar received a Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona.

Bronson Percival, currently a Senior Advisor with the Center for Strategic Studies at CNA, is a respected specialist on Southeast Asia, terrorism, and maritime security. During his career as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, he reported on political and security issues from Lebanon to Indonesia. After teaching at the U.S. Naval War College, he returned to the State Department to lead the Southeast Asia Division in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and then coordinate counter-terrorism programs and policies in the East Asia Bureau. Percival's most recent book, The Dragon Looks South: China and Southeast Asia in the New Century (Westport, Conn: Praeger Security International, 2007), analyses China's goals and objectives in Southeast Asia, the region's response to China's initiatives, and the implications for U.S. interests. He holds an A.B. in International Relations from the University of California—Berkeley, an M.S. from the National War College, and completed course work and research in India for the University of Chicago's Ph.D. program before entering the Foreign Service.

Patrick H. Roth is a Research Analyst in the International Affairs Group. He has extensive experience in defense, intra-governmental, joint and inter-service affairs and liaison with foreign governments, including over twenty years practical experience in development of defense engagement activities, especially in the Pacific East Asia region and the Western Hemisphere. Since joining CNA he has led or participated in studies related to future requirements for U.S. Navy international operative engagement including assessing interoperability requirements. He was a senior participant in studies related to Coast Guard future direction including authorship of a study on Coast Guard purpose and ethos. These recommendations became a basis for Coast Guard Publication One. He has also directed or participated in studies related to staffing and organization, foreign disclosure issues, establishing Navy activities abroad, and deployment analyses. Mr. Roth holds the degree of Master of Public Administration (Public Policy) from the University of Washington. He is a recognized authority on the history of U.S. Navy in Latin America. His latest monograph, on the U.S. Navy's South Atlantic Station, is currently being translated for publication in Uruguay.

Alison C. Russell is a Research Analyst and a specialist in Middle Eastern political-military affairs and maritime issues. Her Middle East research interests include leadership analysis of Middle Eastern regimes, terrorism, and political-social developments in the region. Her naval research topics include maritime theater security cooperation, joint interoperability, strategic communication, and the development of the Navy's community of regional and area specialists. Prior to joining CNA, Ms. Russell lived and studied in Syria, Morocco, and France, where she gained valuable Arabic and French language skills and practical on-the-ground experience. Ms. Russell graduated from Boston College, where she majored in Political Science and French Literature. She also earned an MA in International Relations from American University. She is also an alumna of the Arabic Teaching Institute in Damascus and Middlebury College Arabic Language School's Intensive Immersion Program.

Nilanthi Samaranayake is an analyst in the International Affairs Group. Much of her research focuses on Asia, particularly South Asia. Prior to joining CNA, Ms. Samaranayake completed a fellowship at the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) in Seattle where she investigated Sri Lanka’s deepening economic, military, and political ties with China and China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean region. Her findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal, Asian Security, in the summer 2011 issue. Ms. Samaranayake analyzed public opinion for 10 years at Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C. While there, she directed projects including the quadrennial survey, “America’s Place in the World,” in collaboration with the Council on Foreign Relations. She earned an MSc in International Relations from The London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA in International Studies from American University’s School of International Service.

Christopher Steinitz is a Middle East and Persian Gulf Analyst in CNA’s Center for Strategic Studies and is a member of the Iranian Studies Program team. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Kuwait from 2000-2001, received his MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University in 2004 and a Certificate in Advanced Proficiency in Arabic in 2006, also from Georgetown. He has worked at the U.S. Department of State as a translator and as an Arab Media Analyst prior to joining the research staff at CNA. Chris has been called upon to teach a variety of issues related to the Arab world and Islam for government, military, and law enforcement personnel. In this capacity he has lectured on the Arab world, Islam, Islamist thought and ideology, Arab Media, engaging Muslim communities, and other topics. In addition to supporting Iran Studies at CNA, his current work includes research for a manuscript examining the relationship between American Muslims and Law Enforcement.

Lesley Anne Warner is an analyst in the International Affairs Group, where she focuses on U.S. strategic interests in Africa and the Navy’s growing engagement with African countries. Prior to joining CNA, she was a Writer/Editor at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. Ms. Warner previously worked at the RAND Corporation, where she participated in projects on counterinsurgency, security sector reform, weak/ failed states and nation-building. Ms. Warner holds a M.A. in Security Studies from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. While studying International Relations at Carleton College, she received a David L. Boren National Security Education Program Scholarship and a Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship to conduct research in Brazil on Afro-Brazilian political mobilization. Her publications include “Pieces of Eight: An Appraisal of U.S. Counter-Piracy Options in the Horn of Africa,” Naval War College Review, Vol. 63, No. 2, Spring 2010; “From Sea to Shore: Somali Piracy Requires a Solution on Land,” Journal of International Peace Operations, Vol. 5, No. 4, January/February 2010; and “Money in the Bank: Lessons Learned from Past Counterinsurgency (COIN) Operations,” Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2007.

Gregory Zalasky is a Research Specialist in the International Affairs Group. His work at CNA includes research on Russia’s ballistic missile sector, maritime infrastructure protection in the Middle East and an evaluation of the Russian Navy. His research interests also include leadership analysis in the former Soviet Union, counter terrorism efforts in the Caucasus, and social movements in the region. He previously served as a Senior Analyst for the Emerging Threats Project at Georgetown University where he led an effort to monitor political instability, nuclear proliferation and conflict in the former Soviet Union. He has published articles in the Johns Hopkins University's Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst journal and on ForeignPolicy.com. Zalasky received his M.A. in international affairs with a focus on European and Eurasian studies from the George Washington University and his B.A. in Russian studies and world politics from Hamilton College. He is also an alumnus of the Middlebury College School in Russia program in Yaroslavl' and American Council's Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies program in St. Petersburg.

Hilary Zarin, Ph.D., is a Research Analyst in the International Affairs Group at CNA. Dr. Zarin’s research incorporates social science perspectives and methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative data analyses of cultural phenomena in various parts of the world. She has over a decade of professional experience, prior to her work at CNA, in Peru and Brazil, where she was funded by the philanthropic community and government agencies to work on land use and land tenure, mapping, cultural identity, social movements, and socio-environmental politics of the Amazon River basin. In addition, Dr. Zarin has also received federal funding in the past for her work on urban environmental planning in the United States, and has taught undergraduate and graduate level courses at the University of Florida. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. Dr. Zarin received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida and an M.A. in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.

Center for Stability and Development

Carter Malkasian, Ph.D. is director of the Center for Stability and Development. In 2007 and 2008, Carter led a team that advised Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) in eastern Afghanistan. Previously assigned to the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) as an advisor on counterinsurgency, he deployed for the war in Iraq from February to May 2003, February 2004 to February 2005, and February 2006 to August 2006. Most of that time was spent in Al Anbar province. Dr. Malkasian's most recent publication is a co-edited book (with Daniel Marston of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst), Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare. His other books include: A History of Modern Wars of Attrition (2002) and The Korean War, 1950-1953 (2001). His journal publications include: "Did the Coalition Need More Forces in Iraq? Evidence from Al Anbar" in Joint Force Quarterly "A Thin Blue Line in the Sand" in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas; "Signaling Resolve, Democratization, and the First Battle of Fallujah" in the Journal of Strategic Studies; "The Role of Perceptions and Political Reform in Counterinsurgency" in Small Wars & Insurgencies; and "Toward a Better Understanding of Attrition" in the Journal of Military History. Malkasian completed his doctorate in the history of war at Oxford University.

Jerry Meyerle, Ph.D., is the author of several widely read studies on the insurgency in Afghanistan, as well as published articles on regional security and political violence in Pakistan and India. He is a frequent speaker on these issues at conferences, seminars, and briefing sessions to deploying units. Meyerle has also served on Afghanistan and Pakistan policy reviews for U.S. Central Command. In 2008, he was an advisor to the commander of the Kunar Provincial Reconstruction Team in eastern Afghanistan where he worked on Pakistan border issues. Before coming to CNA, he was an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia where he taught courses on counterinsurgency and guerrilla warfare. He speaks Urdu, and has a Ph.D. in Political Science and South Asian Studies from the University of Virginia.

LTC James A. Gavrilis. USA (Ret.) is a senior advisor in the Stability and Development Program within CNA Strategic Studies. LTC Gavrilis is a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer with over 24 years of experience in the infantry and special operations. He has served overseas in Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East in training, peacekeeping, and combat operations. He has commanded and directed operations in the field focused on urban unconventional warfare, counter-terrorism, counter-insurgency, and counter-proliferation in Iraq and in other parts of the Middle East. LTC Gavrilis also served in the Pentagon and was responsible for the formulation of senior-level political-military operational analysis, policy, and strategy for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Combatant Commanders, and Service Staffs. He served as the interagency representative and coordinator, and routinely worked with counterparts in the National Security Council, the Departments of State, Justice, and Treasury, and the Intelligence community. LTC Gavrilis is a resident Graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He has an M.A. in International Studies from Old Dominion University and a B.A. in Political Science from the Pennsylvania State University. He is also an adjunct professor at both Georgetown University and George Washington University, and teaches counter-insurgency to Iraq provincial reconstruction team members at the Department of State's Foreign Service Institute. His publications include "A Model for Population-Centered Warfare," Small Wars Journal, May 2009, "Army Must Embrace Unconventional Fight," National Defense, August 2007, "Army Must Address Irregular Warfare Needs," National Defense, March 2006, and "The Mayor of Ar Rutbah," Foreign Policy, November-December 2005.

Megan Katt is an Associate Research Analyst for the Stability and Development Program. Her areas of academic interest include counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, ethnic and religious conflict, and the psychological dimensions of conflict. Prior to joining CNA, Ms. Katt supported research on international security and national defense issues at the RAND Corporation where she focused on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and counterterrorism. Ms. Katt holds a B.S. in business marketing from San Diego State University and an M.A. in international security studies from Georgetown University.

William Rosenau, Ph.D. is a Research Analyst in the Stability and Development Program. He is also an adjunct professor in the Security Studies Program, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. Before joining CNA, he served in the RAND Corporation’s International Security Policy department; as a policy adviser to the coordinator for counterterrorism, US Department of State; and as a special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict. His publications include (with Peter Chalk and Angel Rabasa) The Evolving Dynamic of Terrorism in Southeast Asia: A Net Assessment(RAND, 2009); (with Lindsay Clutterbuck) “Subversion as a Facet of Terrorism and Insurgency: The Case for a Twenty-First Century Approach,” Strategic Insights, August 2009; (with Austin Long) The Phoenix Program and Contemporary Counterinsurgency (RAND, 2009); (with Peter Chalk, et al.) Corporations and Counterinsurgency (RAND, 2009); Subversion and Insurgency (RAND, 2008); and US Internal Security Assistance to South Vietnam: Insurgency, Subversion, and Public Order (Routledge, 2005). His degrees are from Columbia (A.B.), Cambridge (M.A.), and King's College, London (Ph.D.).

Lonn Waters is a Research Analyst in CNA’s Stability and Development Program, where he focuses on a range of current operational issues, including counterinsurgency, transition, and withdrawal in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. Waters has also deployed to Afghanistan where he was the Chief Research Analyst for Combined Joint Task Force PALADIN. In this position he conducted trend and geospatial analysis of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). He has also provided analytic support to US Navy counter-piracy exercises in Africa. Prior to joining CNA, he was appointed a Presidential Management Fellow with Joint Forces Command (JFCOM). During this time he analyzed the Department of Defense disaster response to Hurricane Katrina, deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan on lessons learned collection teams (focusing primarily on counter- IED analysis), and worked as a Special Assistant to the JFCOM Commander. Additionally, Mr. Waters helped develop a new research initiative for the Joint Warfare Analysis Center and worked in the Joint Staff J5 where he contributed to the Joint Strategy Review, National Military Strategy and the revision to the Joint Strategic Planning System. Mr. Waters holds a B.A. in political science from Princeton University, an M.S. in political science from MIT, and an M.A. in national security studies from the Naval War College.

Strategic Initiatives Group

W. Eugene Cobble, Jr., Ph.D. is the director of the Strategic Initiatives Group at CNA, and a specialist on Western European defense industrial collaboration and Western European political integration. Dr. Cobble's studies at the Center have focused upon naval international collaborative procurement, improving interoperability between the United States Navy and its Euro-Atlantic partners, and USN crisis response issues. He has also worked extensively on LHA/LHD alternate operational concepts, USN counterproliferation approaches, and on United States grand strategy. He received his Ph.D. in government from Cornell University.

Thomas Bowditch, Ph.D. is a senior research analyst in the Strategic Initiatives Group. He recently returned from the Pacific Command where he was a special assistant for the Commander in Chief, USPACOM working on the Pacific Command's input to the Integrated Global Presence and Basing Strategy (IGPBS). During the summer of 2007, Dr. Bowditch was temporarily assigned to the Commander, U.S. Central Command in Tampa where he completed a special project for the commander on strategic options for the way ahead in Iraq. This assignment required several trips to Iraq where Bowditch visited the major U.S. commands and had multi-level discussions with American and Iraqi commanders. Earlier in Operation Enduring Freedom, Bowditch was in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan during the first half of 2002 providing analytical support to the Marine Corps Combat Assessment Team. Bowditch has done operational research for both the Marine Corps and Navy over the past several years, including considerable work analyzing the roles and missions naval forces in light of changes in the global security environment. He has also done considerable work in the area of Command and Control (C2), the dynamics of headquarters staff architecture, and the evolution of command relationship architectures. Bowditch received his Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Virginia, holds two masters degrees from UVA and the Naval War College, and received his B.A. from Bates College.

Elbridge Colby is principal analyst and division lead, for Global Strategic Affairs in CNA’s Strategic Initiatives Group where he focuses on strategic, deterrence, nuclear weapons, WMD proliferation, and related issues. From 2009-2010 he served as policy advisor to the Secretary of Defense’s Representative for the follow-on to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, serving both on the delegation in Geneva and then as a Department of Defense point man for the Treaty ratification effort. He previously served as an expert advisor to the Congressional Strategic Posture Commission, as special assistant to the Chief of Staff in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, as a staff member on the President’s WMD Commission, and with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and the State Department. He has been an adjunct staff member with the RAND Corporation and is a consultant to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Global Security Directorate, and has served as a consultant to other government bodies, including the U.S. Strategic Command. He has written chapters and articles on strategic, proliferation, and intelligence issues in a variety of publications, including the Strategic Posture Commission’s compendium In the Eyes of the Experts as well as journals such as Orbis and Policy Review, and is slated to publish chapters in two forthcoming edited collections. He has spoken at Yale University, Columbia University, Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and to the Global Strategy Forum in the UK Houses of Parliament, as well as to NATO officials and experts at conferences in Lithuania and Estonia and at a number of other conferences in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He is a recipient of the Exceptional Public Service Award from the Office of the Secretary of Defense and of the Distinguished and Meritorious Honor Awards from the Department of State. A term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, he is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.

Seth Cropsey is currently a Senior Advisor for Maritime Strategy at CNA as well as an Adjunct Fellow at the Hudson Institute. He is Contributing Editor at Armed Forces Journal. He served as deputy Under Secretary of the Navy from 1984 to 1989. After the Navy secretariat, he became principal deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict. Subsequently, and as director of the Heritage Foundation's Asia Studies Center, he researched and published on U.S. policy toward Asia. Beginning with its first class in 1994, Mr. Cropsey taught at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies as department chairman and distinguished professor. He is the author of a monograph on defense export controls published by the American Enterprise Institute Press, and served from 2002 to 2005 as the Senate-confirmed director of the U.S. government's International Broadcasting Bureau, responsible for the Voice of America, Radio and Television Marti, and the transmission of all civilian U.S. government international broadcasts. His articles on strategy, national security, special operations, and defense organization have appeared in Proceedings, the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, National Interest, The Weekly Standard , Washington Times, and Armed Forces Journal. Mr. Cropsey received his B.A. from St. Johns College, and M.A. from Boston College. He served as an officer in the Naval Reserve from 1985 until 2004.

Brian J. Ellison is a research analyst in CNA’s Strategic Studies division. He specializes in Eurasian political-military studies and irregular warfare. He was recently deployed to Afghanistan as the Chief Operations Analyst for Regional Command East, CJTF Paladin, where he directed research in the areas of counter-IED and counter-terrorism. In addition to working directly with the intelligence community, he worked with the plans and assessments sections of the 101st Airborne and 1st Cavalry divisions. Among other subjects, he provided research and analysis on targeting effectiveness, insurgent network dispositions and trends, foreign support to the insurgency and IED forecasting. He conducted dozens of intelligence assessments and operations evaluations and regularly briefed the division chief of staff, Paladin East commander and the CJ2. He also directed studies on the policy and effectiveness of special programs. In his role back at CNA headquarters, Brian frequently writes papers and conducts briefings in an advisory role to the U.S. military and intelligence community. He has directed projects for the Marine Corps SPGMTF in Afghanistan on counterinsurgency operations and insurgent networks in northern Helmand province. During the Key Resolve and Ulchi Freedom 2010 exercises, he conducted assessments for the Marine Corps on the Korean Marine Corps in its ability to perform mission essential tasks in the areas of intelligence and reconnaissance in defense of the Korean Peninsula. He has also written papers on the subjects of post-withdrawal politics, irregular warfare, Russian politics and strategic affairs, Pakistani political-military affairs, Iranian strategy in the Caspian, foreign support to insurgencies, maritime domain awareness (MDA), the Soviet-Afghan War and geo-strategic issues in Central Asia. Prior to joining CNA in 2007, he held positions at the Brookings Institution and research fellowships at American University and the Project on National Security Reform. He has also been an energy and national security consultant for Mezetti and Associates. His article on Russian grand strategy and the South Ossetia War will be published in fall 2011 issues of the Russian studies journal, Demokratizatsiya.

Michael S. Gerson is a research analyst in the Strategic Initiatives Group, where his research focuses on nuclear and conventional deterrence, nuclear strategy, arms control, missile defense, and WMD proliferation. Since joining CNA in 2006, he has regularly provided research and analysis on deterrence and nuclear issues to the U.S. Navy, and in 2007 he participated in the conceptual development and drafting of the Navy's maritime strategy, A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower. In 2009 he served as a staff member on the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), where he focused on extended deterrence and assurance was a lead author and organizer of a study on international perspectives on U.S. nuclear policy and posture. He has lectured on nuclear weapons and deterrence at George Washington University and NYU, and has published articles on the history of nuclear strategy in the Cold War, nuclear and conventional deterrence theory, U.S. nuclear policy, and contemporary deterrence challenges. Gerson received a BA in history from the University of Texas, where he graduated with Special Honors in history and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago.

Kenneth A. Huffman is currently a Senior Advisor at CNA and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States. Previously he was a member of the Senior Executive Service with over nineteen years of experience in political-military matters at senior levels of the U.S. Government. During this period he represented the U.S. in NATO negotiations on security and operational issues, including Central Asia and the Balkans, development of a European Security and Defense Policy, establishment of a verification regime for the Conventional Forces Europe Treaty, and adaptation of NATO crisis management procedures after the end of the Cold War. He was also responsible for all operational and policy aspects of NATO matters relating to U.S. and NATO forces, intelligence, exercises and crisis management. Mr. Huffman has an additional seven years of hands-on operational experience in command, control and communications planning, analysis and project management, as well as twenty years in operational billets as a U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer. Mr. Huffman received a B.A. in Mathematics from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1963, and a M.S. degree in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, in 1968.

Rear Admiral Jim Stark is currently a senior advisor with the CNA as well as an independent consultant with The Spectrum Group of Alexandria, Virginia. Previously, he was based in London as Marketing Vice President for Europe with Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems International. In that capacity, he was responsible for identifying and pursuing new military and commercial business opportunities throughout the European region, coordinating with government and private customers, evaluating potential partners and teammates, and supporting operations of the corporation’s European subsidiaries. Prior to joining private industry, Admiral Stark completed a 33-year career in the U.S. Navy as President of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, providing graduate level professional military education for over six hundred U.S. and international resident students annually in addition to a large non-resident program. A surface warfare officer, Admiral Stark commanded the NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic, directing its operations in support of the United Nations embargo of Serbia and Bosnia. In that role, he commanded forces from throughout NATO and the European Union in addition to U.S. Navy units. Admiral Stark also served as Commander of the Pacific Fleet Training Command, in charge of technical and operational training throughout the Pacific Fleet. Additionally, he has an extensive background in political-military policy and planning, having served in this area on both the National Security Council and the Navy Staff. He commanded USS Leahy (CG 16) and USS Julius A. Furer (FFG 6). Admiral Stark holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy. He attended the University of Vienna as a Fulbright Scholar and holds two Masters Degrees and a Doctoral Degree in Political Science from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

Captain Peter M. Swartz, U.S. Navy (Retired) has been a strategy and policy research analyst and manager at CNA since 1993, directing or contributing significantly to studies on maritime strategy; NATO relationships; riverine operations; counter-piracy operations; force protection; strategic concept development; deployment strategy; homeland defense; combatant command component relationships; multinational doctrine; and operations other than war. He also directed a study on U.S. Coast Guard international operations, and serves as CNA's advisor to the Strategy and Policy Division (N51) on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations. During his Navy career, he served in senior military and diplomatic staff positions in the United States and overseas. He was Special Assistant to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell during the first Gulf War, and Director of Defense Operations at the U.S. Mission to NATO in Brussels during the Warsaw Pact collapse. During the 1980s, he was a principal author of the Reagan Administration's Maritime Strategy. Earlier he served two wartime tours advising the Vietnamese Navy, and was an instructor and course director in naval counter-insurgency. He has taught graduate-level courses and classes at George Washington and Cornell Universities; authored numerous journal articles and book chapters; and lectured at military and civilian colleges and universities. He holds a B.A. from Brown University, an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and an M.Phil from Columbia University.

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