
Eliot A. Cohen is the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Robert E. Osgood Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he has taught since 1990. He received his BA and PhD degrees from Harvard and taught there and at the U.S. Naval War College before going to SAIS, where he has also served as the school’s ninth dean. His books include, most recently, The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force (Basic Books, 2017), as well as Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battle Along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War (FreePress, 2011) and Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime (Anchor, 2002), among others. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve, was a director in the Defense Department’s policy planning staff, led the U.S. Air Force’s multivolume study of the first Gulf War, and has served in various official advisory positions. From 2007 to 2009 he was counselor of the Department of State, serving as Secretary Condoleezza Rice’s senior adviser, focusing chiefly on issues of war and peace, including Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and his commentary has also appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and on major television networks.
Areas of Expertise
In the News
Western Aid to Ukraine Is Still Not Enough
Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic — January 17, 2023
Guardians of the Republic
Eliot A. Cohen in Foreign Affairs — January 5, 2023
What Putin’s War in Ukraine Reveals About Russia—and the Likely Path Ahead
Eliot A. Cohen in The Wall Street Journal — December 13, 2022
Cut the Baloney Realism
Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic — November 21, 2022
The Words About Ukraine That Americans Need to Hear
Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic — October 22, 2022
Putin’s Regime Faces the Fate of His Kerch Strait Bridge
Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic — October 9, 2022
Putin 'in a corner' with options narrowing
Eliot A. Cohen in RFI — October 8, 2022
Russia’s Nuclear Bluster Is a Sign of Panic
Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic — October 4, 2022
All content by Eliot A. Cohen
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Visions of Kiev
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — September 30, 2022

Security Assistance to Ukraine: The State Department’s Role
Event by Eliot A. Cohen , Dr. Dafna H. Rand , Ambassador Todd D. Robinson , Jessica Lewis , and Kathryn Insley — July 13, 2022

Chicago Rules of War
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — July 7, 2022

Russia Processing Reality
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — June 23, 2022

Assessing Russia’s War in Ukraine
Event by Eliot A. Cohen , Emily Harding , Seth G. Jones , and Michael Vickers — June 16, 2022

Transformational War
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — May 17, 2022

War’s Decisive Moment
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — April 13, 2022

U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part Two
Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman and Eliot A. Cohen — March 22, 2022

Enraged Putin
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz , Eliot A. Cohen , and Seth G. Jones — March 18, 2022

Aiding Ukraine: How the United States Can Give Ukrainians the Means to Fight
Event by John J. Hamre , Eliot A. Cohen , and Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX) — March 15, 2022
