Dr. Eliot A. Cohen Joins CSIS as Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy
September 7, 2021
WASHINGTON, September 7, 2021: The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce that Dr. Eliot A. Cohen will be joining CSIS as the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy. In this capacity, Dr. Cohen will join the International Security Program at CSIS, which conducts research and analysis on defense and other national security topics. The Burke Chair was previously held by Dr. Anthony H. Cordesman, who will remain an active scholar with CSIS as Emeritus Chair in Strategy, continuing his more than 26-year career with CSIS.
“Eliot Cohen is one of the very few truly strategic thinkers in American policy circles. We are honored to have him share his expertise with CSIS,” said Dr. John J. Hamre, president and CEO of CSIS. “Tony Cordesman has a premier franchise as an honest and challenging intellectual leader in national security. We have greatly valued his many years with CSIS and celebrate that he will continue as an active scholar with CSIS in an emeritus status.”
Dr. Cohen joins CSIS after more than three decades at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, where he will continue to serve as the Robert E. Osgood Professor. At SAIS, he also founded the Merrill Center for Strategic Studies and served as vice dean from 2018 to 2019 and dean from 2019 to 2021. He served as counselor of the Department of State from 2007 to 2009, where he advised Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia, as well as general strategic issues. He also represented the Department of State in interagency coordination with senior National Security Council, Department of Defense, and intelligence community officials.
Before joining SAIS, Dr. Cohen also taught at Harvard and then at the United States Naval War College. He has authored several books—including The Big Stick (Basic Books, 2017), Conquered into Liberty (Free Press, 2011), and Supreme Command (Anchor, 2002)—and is a frequent contributor to major publications including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic.
“I am honored to become the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at CSIS, the country's foremost foreign policy and national security think tank. The range and depth of CSIS's professionals are truly extraordinary, and many are already good friends and now, colleagues.” said Dr. Cohen. “I look forward to working closely with them on the issues confronting this country and its allies in a world of extraordinary uncertainty and change.”
Dr. Cohen received his bachelor’s degree and his PhD in political science from Harvard University.