Seth G. Jones

Senior Vice President; Harold Brown Chair; and Director, International Security Program
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.

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Three Dangerous Men

Seth Jones’ most recent book examines how three key figures in Moscow, Beijing, and Tehran, respectively, built irregular warfare campaigns that are eroding American power. Conventional warfare—clashes between large military forces—defined twentieth-century power. But today, facing dominant US conventional and nuclear capabilities, the U.S.’s principal adversaries, Russia, China, and Iran, have adopted a different style of competition. Cyber attacks, covert action, proxy conflicts, information and disinformation campaigns, espionage, and economic coercion—these are the tools of irregular warfare, which will increasingly reshape international politics. In short, the future of warfare is likely to be closer to the Chinese general Sun Tzu than to the Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz.

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Global Security Forum 2023: Transatlantic Defense

The 2023 Global Security Forum, the CSIS International Security Program’s flagship annual conference, took place on April 5, 2023. This year’s conference theme was transatlantic defense and featured a keynote address by Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Christopher W. Grady.

Event by John J. Hamre , Seth G. Jones , Emily Harding , Cynthia Cook , and Max Bergmann — April 5, 2023

The Future of AUKUS with Admiral Harry Harris Jr., USN (Ret.)

CSIS and the U.S. Naval Institute welcomed former Admiral Harry Harris Jr. (Ret.), former Commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet and U.S. Pacific Command, for a Maritime Security Dialogue discussion on the latest developments on the Australia-United Kingdom-United States security partnership, or AUKUS.

Event by Seth G. Jones , Vice Admiral Peter H. Daly, USN (Ret.) , Admiral Harry Harris Jr., USN (Ret.) , and Charles Edel — March 30, 2023

The U.S. Defense Industrial Base in an Era of Strategic Competition

The U.S. defense industrial base faces a significant challenge in an era of strategic competition with growing threats from China and Russia. Representatives Mike Waltz (R-FL) and Jason Crow (D-CO) join CSIS's Seth Jones for a discussion of the scale and scope of challenges with the U.S. industrial base for deterrence and warfighting.

Event by Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) , Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) , and Seth G. Jones — March 24, 2023

Russian and Ukrainian Force Disposition

Explore CSIS’s interactive map of the war in Ukraine. See how the force disposition and front lines in Ukraine have changed over time.

Digital Report by Seth G. Jones , Riley McCabe , and Alexander Palmer — March 3, 2023

The Truth of the Matter

Russian Deaths in Ukraine

CSIS’s Seth Jones joins the podcast to discuss his new report about Russian combat deaths in Ukraine.

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Seth G. Jones — March 2, 2023

CSIS the truth of the matter

Ukrainian Innovation in a War of Attrition

Russia suffered more combat deaths in Ukraine in the first year of the war than in all of its wars combined since World War II. The average rate of Russian soldiers killed per month in Ukraine is 35 times greater than the number of Soviet soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Brief by Seth G. Jones , Riley McCabe , and Alexander Palmer — February 27, 2023

One Year Later: Assessing Russia’s War In Ukraine

The CSIS International Security Program hosted an online discussion on Friday, February 17th at 10:00 AM ET on the state of the war, major lessons, and future trajectory.

Event by Seth G. Jones , Emily Harding , Eliot A. Cohen , and Hon. Michael Vickers — February 17, 2023

The Role of Special Operations Forces in Great Power Competition

Seth Jones, Senior Vice President; Harold Brown Chair; and Director, International Security Program, testified before the House Armed Services Intelligence and Operations Subcommittee on the topic of irregular warfare in the context of Great Power Competition

Congressional Testimony by Seth G. Jones — February 8, 2023