Seth G. Jones

Seth G. Jones is senior vice president, Harold Brown Chair, director of the International Security Program, and director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He focuses on defense strategy, military operations, force posture, and irregular warfare. He leads a bipartisan team of over 50 resident staff and an extensive network of non-resident affiliates dedicated to providing independent strategic insights and policy solutions that shape national security. He also teaches at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.
Prior to joining CSIS, Dr. Jones was the director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the RAND Corporation. He also served as representative for the commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, to the assistant secretary of defense for special operations. Before that, he was a plans officer and adviser to the commanding general, U.S. Special Operations Forces, in Afghanistan (Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command–Afghanistan). In 2014, Dr. Jones served on a congressionally mandated panel that reviewed the FBI’s implementation of counterterrorism recommendations contained in the 9/11 Commission Report. He is the author of Three Dangerous Men: Russia, China, Iran, and the Rise of Irregular Warfare (W.W. Norton, 2021), A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland (W.W. Norton, 2018), Waging Insurgent Warfare: Lessons from the Vietcong to the Islamic State (Oxford University Press, 2016), Hunting in the Shadows: The Pursuit of al Qa'ida since 9/11 (W.W. Norton, 2012), and In the Graveyard of Empires: America’s War in Afghanistan (W.W. Norton, 2009). Dr. Jones has published articles in a range of journals, such as Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and International Security, as well as newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Dr. Jones is a graduate of Bowdoin College and received his MA and PhD from the University of Chicago.
Three Dangerous Men
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Ukraine got the top tanks it wanted from the West, but they're not yet changing the game
Seth G. Jones in Business Insider — November 25, 2023
Satellites and social media offer hints about Israel's ground war strategy in Gaza
Seth G. Jones in NPR — November 3, 2023
Satellites and social media offer hints about Israel's ground war strategy in Gaza
Seth G. Jones in NPR — November 3, 2023
Hamas built a massive tunnel network in Gaza. Here’s how Israeli ‘weasel’ forces will fight it
Seth G. Jones in USA Today — October 30, 2023
Kill and Be Killed: Ukraine’s Bloody Battlefield Equation
Seth G. Jones in New York Times — October 23, 2023
Pentagon scours weapons stockpiles for Israel, even as Ukraine stresses industry
Seth G. Jones in Politico — October 19, 2023
What Israel Will Face in Gaza
Daniel Byman and Seth G. Jones in Foreign Affairs — October 14, 2023
What an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza would entail
Seth G. Jones in CBS — October 12, 2023
All Seth G. Jones Content
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Korea Global Forum 2023
Event — November 6, 2023
Canada’s Role in Global Maritime Security
Event — November 3, 2023
The Outlook for Israel’s Military Campaign against Hamas
Event — October 23, 2023
Dimensions of War in Gaza
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Seth G. Jones — October 19, 2023

UK’s First Sea Lord on the Royal Navy
Event — October 17, 2023
The U.S. Coast Guard in an Era of Great Power Competition with ADM Linda L. Fagan
Event — October 17, 2023
Daniel Byman and Seth G. Jones in Foreign Affairs: What Israel Will Face in Gaza
Commentary by Daniel Byman and Seth G. Jones — October 14, 2023
Press Briefing: Latest Insights on Israel-Hamas War
Event — October 13, 2023
Seizing the Initiative in Ukraine: Waging War in a Defense Dominant World
Brief by Seth G. Jones Riley McCabe and Alexander Palmer — October 12, 2023
In the Shadow of Ukraine
Report by Seth G. Jones — September 29, 2023