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Hal Brands

Hal Brands

Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor

About

Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is also a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. He is the author or editor of several books, including, most recently, The Twilight Struggle: What the Cold War Teaches Us About Great-Power Rivalry, Danger Zone: The Coming Conflict with China, co-authored with Michael Beckley, and The New Makers of Modern Strategy: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age.

Hal has served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Strategic Planning and lead writer for the Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States. He is a member of the State Department's Foreign Affairs Policy Board and consults with a range of government offices and agencies in the intelligence and national security communities. His writings have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and other outlets; he has lectured widely on foreign policy and global affairs to audiences in government, academia, and the private sector.

Expertise

Topics

  • American Defense Policy
  • American Foreign Policy
  • Domestic Influences On Foreign Policy
  • Grand Strategy
  • History
  • International Relations
  • Latin American Security and Diplomacy
  • Nuclear Policy and Proliferation
  • Strategic and Security Issues
  • U.S. Congress and Foreign Policy
  • U.S. Presidency and Foreign Policy

In the News

Attacks on Russia Test the Limits of US-Ukraine Alliance

Analysis by Hal Brands in Bloomberg, 12/06

Aiding a Ukrainian Insurgency Would Be Painful and Costly

Hal Brands wrote in Bloomberg, 03/06

The ‘Putin Doctrine’ becomes clear in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Hal Brands wrote in Bloomberg Opinion, 01/06

China is running out of water and that’s scary for Asia.

Hal Brands wrote in Bloomberg Opinion, 12/29

Beijing’s gambit.

Hal Brands wrote in Engelsberg Ideas, 12/10