MILITARY EXPERT & HISTORIAN
Areas of expertise: American foreign policy, Middle East policy, grand strategy, international relations, international security, counterterrorism

Andrew J. Bacevich is professor of history and international relations emeritus at Boston University. A graduate of the U. S. Military Academy, he served for twenty-three years as a commissioned officer in the United States Army. He received his Ph. D. in American diplomatic history from Princeton. Before joining the faculty of Boston University in 1998, he taught at West Point and at Johns Hopkins. His most recent books include America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History (2016); Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country (2013); Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (2010); The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (2008); The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War (2005); and American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U. S. Diplomacy (2002). Bacevich’s op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Boston Globe, and Los Angeles Times, among other newspapers.

Andrew J. Bacevich Clips:
PBS: FRONTLINE on Obama's War
The Colbert Report
Moyers & Company

FOREIGN POLICY SCHOLAR & DIRECTOR, NOTRE DAME INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CENTER
Areas of expertise: American foreign policy, international relations, international security

Desch is an expert on U.S. foreign and national security policies. His current research focuses on how to bridge the gap between academic research and policymaking. He is the co-author most recently of Privileged and Confidential: The Secret History of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board with K. Michael Absher and Roman Popadiuk, and also Power and Military Effectiveness: The Fallacy of Democratic Triumphalism, When the Third World Matters: Latin America and U.S. Grand Strategy, and Civilian Control of theMilitary: The Changing Security Environment. Prior to his academic appointments, Desch has served on the staff of a U.S. senator, as an intelligence analyst at the U.S. Department of State, and as a national defense analyst at the Congressional Research Service.

FOREIGN POLICY FELLOW & SCHOLAR
Areas of expertise: American foreign policy, Middle East policy, counterterrorism, homeland security, intelligence, grand strategy

Charles (Chuck) Peña is the former Director of Defense Policy Studies at the Cato Institute and has been a senior fellow at the Independent Institute, the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute, and the Coalition for a Realistic Foreign Policy, as well as an advisor on the Straus Military Reform Project. He has more than 25 years experience as a defense policy and program expert and senior manager, supporting the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Peña was an on-air analyst for MSNBC television (as well as CNBC and NBC) and was an analyst for Global TV (Canada) and Channel One News (a PRIMEDIA Inc. company) during the Iraq war. He has appeared on “Hardball with Chris Matthews” on MSNBC, “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News, CNN, PBS, and the BBC. His opinions have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, among others.

SENIOR FELLOW & MILITARY EXPERT
Areas of expertise: American foreign policy, Middle East policy, grand strategy, international relations, international security, counterinsurgency

Davis retired from the US Army as a Lt. Col. after 21 years of active service and currently serves as a Defense Fellow and Military Expert for Defense Priorities. He was deployed into combat zones four times in his career, beginning with Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and then to Iraq in 2009 and Afghanistan twice (2005, 2011). He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor at the Battle of 73 Easting in 1991 (serving under President Trump's National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster), and awarded a Bronze Star Medal in Afghanistan in 2011. Davis gained national notoriety in 2012 when he returned from Afghanistan and published a report detailing how senior U.S. military and civilian leaders told the American public and Congress the war was going well while in reality it was headed to defeat. Events since have confirmed his analysis was correct. His work on defense, foreign affairs, and social issues has been published in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, CNN, The Guardian (UK), US News & World Report, TIME, Politico, and other publications.

Daniel L. Davis Clips:
CNN with Barbara Starr
PBS News Hour
Campaign for America’s Future
The Peter Dominick Show
The Scott Horton Show
Voice of America

FOREIGN POLICY SCHOLAR & FACULTY, NOTRE DAME INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CENTER
Areas of expertise: American foreign policy, international relations, international security

Eugene Gholz is an associate professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame. He works primarily at the intersection of national security and economic policy, on subjects including innovation, defense management, and U.S. grand strategy. He co-wrote a well-known International Security article that coined the term “restraint” as a proposed grand strategy for the United States. From 2010-2012, he served in the Pentagon as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy. He is the coauthor of two books: Buying Military Transformation: Technological Innovation and the Defense Industry and U.S. Defense Politics: The Origins of Security Policy. Much of his recent scholarship focuses on energy security. He is vice chair of the international security section of the International Studies Association and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; he previously held faculty positions at the University of Texas at Austin, Williams College, the University of Kentucky, and George Mason University; and his Ph.D. is from MIT.

VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLIC POLICY
Areas of expertise: Congressional legislative and budget process, intersection of politics and policy, and efficiency and reform efforts in American foreign policy

Kurt Couchman comes to Defense Priorities after six years as a policy expert in congressional offices. Most recently, he was Legislative Director for a Republican member of the House of Representatives. He has developed initiatives and built coalitions in diverse fields such as foreign affairs, defense, trade, health care, transparency, housing finance, banking, and budget process, including two bipartisan balanced budget amendments with more than 60 co-sponsors each. He previously conducted Legislative Affairs for the Cato Institute, including expanding the influence of its foreign and defense policy scholars on Capitol Hill. He has also advocated for private industry in the energy and chemicals fields. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the Robert E. Cook Honors College, as well as a master's degree in economics from George Mason University.

SENIOR ADVISOR & FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST
Areas of expertise: American foreign policy, intersection of politics and policy, congressional process

W. James Antle III is the Washington Examiner's politics editor and currently serves as a Senior Advisor and Foreign Policy Analyst for Defense Priorities. He was previously managing editor of the Daily Caller, associate editor of the American Spectator and senior writer for the American Conservative. Antle is the author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped? (Regnery, 2013).