ABOUT THE GUESTS
Dr. Nora
Bensahel
Distinguished Scholar in Residence School of International Service, American University
Dr. Nora Bensahel is a widely published expert on U.S. defense policy, military operations and force structure. She is also a Contributing Editor and Columnist for War on the Rocks. She has held senior positions at the Center for a New American Security and RAND Corporation. She taught in the Security Studies Program at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University for more than a decade. She earned her BA from Cornell University and her MA and PhD in political science from Stanford University.
General
Wesley Clark
Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in Europe
In 38 years of service in the United States Army, Wesley K. Clark rose to the rank of four-star general as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. Since retiring from the military in 2000, he has become an investment banker, businessman, commentator, author and teacher. The author of three books, “Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo and the Future of Combat,” “Winning Modern War: Iraq, Terrorism and the American Empire” and “A Time to Lead: For Duty, Honor, Country,” Clark also serves as Chairman/CEO of Wesley K. Clark & Associates, a strategic consulting firm, and Co-Chairman of Growth Energy.
Justin
Johnson
Defense Budget Analyst, The Heritage Foundation
Justin T. Johnson specializes in defense budgets and policies for The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Center for National Security and Foreign Policy. Prior to joining The Heritage Foundation, Johnson spent over a decade working on defense and foreign policy issues on Capitol Hill. His last position on Capitol Hill was as Deputy Chief of Staff and Military Legislative Assistant for Rep. Doug Lamborn, who is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Christopher
Preble
Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies, The Cato Institute
Christopher Preble is the vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. He is the author of The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free (Cornell University Press, 2009) and John F. Kennedy and the Missile Gap(Northern Illinois University Press, 2004). He coedited, with John Mueller, A Dangerous World? Threat Perception and U.S. National Security (Cato Institute, 2014); and, with Jim Harper and Benjamin Friedman, Terrorizing Ourselves: Why U.S. Counterterrorism Policy Is Failing and How to Fix It(Cato Institute, 2010). In addition to his work at Cato, Preble teaches the U.S. foreign policy elective at the University of California, Washington Center.