Eliot A. Cohen

Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy
Eliot A. Cohen

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 Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall (Basic Books, 2023), as well as The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force (Basic Books, 2017), 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.

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Russia’s War in Ukraine and the Prospects for Peace

Three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war continues to rage. But peace negotiations have now begun. How has the war evolved? And what are the prospects for peace? Join the CSIS Defense and Security Department for a virtual discussion on the state of the conflict.

Event — February 24, 2025

The Russia-Ukraine War: A Study in Analytic Failure

Eliot Cohen and Phillips O'Brien examine analytic failures leading up to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, their policy implications, and ways to improve future military analysis.

Report by Eliot A. Cohen and Phillips O'Brien — September 24, 2024

The Truth of the Matter

Update: Ukraine and Israel

CSIS’s Eliot Cohen joins the podcast to discuss the latest in Ukraine’s war with Russia and Israel’s war with Hamas.

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — September 12, 2024

CSIS the truth of the matter
The Truth of the Matter

Iran Emerges From The Shadows

CSIS’s Eliot Cohen joins the podcast to discuss Iran’s missile attack on Israel and its wider geopolitical implications.

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — April 19, 2024

CSIS the truth of the matter
The Truth of the Matter

Ukraine: A Real War

On the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, CSIS’ Eliot Cohen joins the podcast to discuss how the conflict has become a “real war,” and what the consequences are for the United States and the West if Ukraine doesn’t prevail.

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — March 1, 2024

CSIS the truth of the matter