# Kori Schake

> Kori Schake runs foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and is one of Washington's most quoted voices on alliances, deterrence, and the future of NATO. A Stanford-trained scholar who studied under Condoleezza Rice, she spent a decade and a half inside the Pentagon, the National Security Council, and the State Department before becoming a leading public intellectual on grand strategy. She is the author of several books on hegemony and civil-military relations, a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and a Republican national security thinker known for breaking with her party over Donald Trump.

- **Role:** Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
- **Organizations:** American Enterprise Institute, The Atlantic, Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Alexander Hamilton Society, German Marshall Fund (Transatlantic Task Force), Hoover Institution (former), International Institute for Strategic Studies (former)
- **From:** Sonoma County, California, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in International Relations (studied under Condoleezza Rice), Stanford University, MPA, MA in Government and Politics, and PhD in Government (advisors: Thomas Schelling, Catherine Kelleher, George Quester), University of Maryland, College Park
- **Known for:** Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, Helped conceptualize and create NATO's Allied Command Transformation and the NATO Response Force, Contributed to the most significant realignment of U.S. military forces and bases worldwide since 1950

## Career timeline

- **1990-1994** — NATO desk officer, Joint Staff Strategic Plans and Policy Division (J-5), U.S. Department of Defense - worked German unification, NATO after the Cold War, and alliance expansion
- **1994-1996** — Special assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Strategy and Requirements, Office of the Secretary of Defense
- **2001-2008** — Director for Defense Strategy and Requirements, National Security Council (George W. Bush's first term) - helped create NATO's Allied Command Transformation and the NATO Response Force
- **2007-2008** — Deputy Director for Policy Planning, U.S. State Department (December 2007 - May 2008)
- **2008** — Senior policy advisor on foreign and defense policy, McCain-Palin presidential campaign (earlier advised Rudy Giuliani's campaign)
- **2010s** — Distinguished Chair of International Security Studies, West Point; Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution; faculty roles at Johns Hopkins SAIS, National Defense University, and the University of Maryland
- **2018** — Deputy Director-General of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London
- **2018-present** — Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute; contributing writer at The Atlantic
- **2021** — Appointed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to the Commission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America

## Achievements

- Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute
- Helped conceptualize and create NATO's Allied Command Transformation and the NATO Response Force
- Contributed to the most significant realignment of U.S. military forces and bases worldwide since 1950
- Author of 'Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony' (Harvard University Press, 2017)
- Author of 'The State and the Soldier: A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States' (Polity, 2025)
- Co-editor with James Mattis of 'Warriors and Citizens: American Views of Our Military' (2016)
- Contributing writer at The Atlantic; widely published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post
- Member of the Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee

## Latest updates

- **2025** — Published 'The State and the Soldier: A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States' (Polity Books).
- **2025** — Continued as a leading public commentator on NATO and the Trump administration's foreign policy, appearing on the Foreign Affairs Interview and writing for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy.

## Links

- Website: https://www.aei.org/profile/kori-schake/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/KoriSchake

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kori-schake
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Last updated: 2026-06-02