People

Our team

The Future Security Initiative has two faculty co-directors, Peter Bergen and Daniel Rothenberg, a team of 22 faculty as well as over 25 current and former funded fellows, and an expanding group of research fellows. We work with over 150 affiliated faculty from multiple programs and units at ASU including scholars of political science, history, religious studies, law, engineering, public policy, sustainability, philosophy, international development, security studies, regional studies, and other fields. Additionally, we work with dozens of experts based at New America including journalists, researchers, former government officials, former members of the U.S. military, and specialists in international human rights and global humanitarian assistance.

Co-directors

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Peter L. Bergen

Professor of Practice, Vice President and Director of the International Security Program at New America, award winning journalist and author of multiple best-selling books including The Cost of Chaos: The Trump Administration and the World and The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden: The Biography.

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Daniel Rothenberg

Professor of Practice, Senior Fellow at New America, anthropologist focusing on human rights, genocide and truth commissions, and field-based research, books include Memory of Silence and Drone Wars

Core faculty

Portrait of Rozina Ali

Rozina Ali

Journalist focusing on the Middle East and South Asia, the post-9/11 wars, and islamophobia, contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and fellow at Type Media Center and 2022-23 Cullman.

Portrait of Ben Dalton

Ben Dalton

Program manager, New America’s Future Frontlines program, formerly a journalist and producer for BuzzFeed News, World Learning, and the International Crisis Group, his work has appeared in The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Al Jazeera, CNN.com, the Christian Science Monitor, among other publications.

Portrait of Roger Herbert

Roger Herbert

Former Robert T. Herres Distinguished Military Professor of Ethics, US Naval Academy, former Navy SEAL, Captain (ret.), US Navy, with multiple deployments, research focuses on special operations ethics and leadership

Portrait of Jeremy Hodge

Jeremy Hodge

Senior Investigator, Zomia Center and an investigative journalist covering the rise of extremism in Syria and Iraq, the petroleum/defense sectors, and regional finance, with articles in Foreign Affairs, The Nation, Le Monde Diplomatique, Al Jazeera, The Daily Beast, Africa Confidential and other publications.

Portrait of Jesse Kirkpatrick

Jesse Kirkpatrick

Research Assistant Professor and the Acting Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, George Mason University working on the ethics of peace and security and emerging technologies

Portrait of Sol Laudon

Sol Laudon

Software engineer, Director, Refugee Technology Programs at the Zomia Center, research experience in North Africa and the Middle East.

Portrait of Joanna Naples-Mitchell

Joanna Naples-Mitchell

International human rights lawyer, Director, Program on Redress for Survivors of U.S. and Coalition Airstrikes at the Zomia Center, previously worked for Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights.

Portrait of Víctor Rodríguez Rescia

Víctor Rodríguez Rescia

President of the International Institute for Social Responsibility and Human Rights (IIRESODH), former member and president of different United Nations human rights bodies and former secretary of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Portrait of David Sterman

David Sterman

Senior policy analyst, New America, focuses on violent extremism in America, proxy warfare, and the effectiveness and consequences of American counterterrorism.

Faculty

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Anika Binnendijk

Professor of Practice, political analyst at the RAND Corporation, former staff at the National Security Council and in the Department of State Policy Planning staff

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Lt. Col. M.L. Cavanaugh

Professor of Practice, active-duty U.S. Army strategist, co-founder of the Modern War Institute at West Point

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Alicia Ellis

Assistant Teaching Professor & Director, MA in Global Security, U.S. Air Force veteran, former Policy Analyst for the U.S. State Department, and Presidential Management Fellow

Portrait of Ken Gleiman

Ken Gleiman

Professor of Practice, retired U.S. Army colonel with special operations and policy experience and a PhD in security studies 

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Anand Gopal

Assistant Research Professor, sociologist, journalist, finalist for 2015 and 2022 Pulitzer Prize and 2014 National Book Award

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Sarah Holewinski

Professor of Practice, DC Director, Human Rights Watch, former deputy chief of staff in the U.S. Mission to the U.N., expert on civilian protection in war

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Thomas Just

Assistant Teaching Professor, political scientist specializing in the use of legal and public diplomacy strategies to counter extremist ideologies and support reconciliation

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Azmat Khan

Professor of Practice, Carnegie Fellow, winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize, investigative journalist focusing on conflict focusing on Afghanistan & Iraq

David Kilcullen

David Kilcullen

Professor of Practice, counter insurgency/terrorism expert former advisor to Gen. David Petraeus, and Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice, author of The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West, The Accidental Guerrilla, Counterinsurgency, Out of the Mountains

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Jonathan Kinkel

Assistant Teaching Professor, lawyer, and political scientist, former Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General, works on comparative politics, human rights, U.S.-China relations, former NGO director

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Jeff Kubiak

Professor of Practice, ASU Director of Future Security Education, retired U.S. Air Force colonel; political scientist specializing in strategy and narrative, former faculty at U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies.

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Ajit Maan

Professor of Practice, Center on the Future of War, School of Politics and Global Studies, philosopher specializing in the analysis of narrative and strategy, author of Narrative Warfare

Andrew Maher

Andrew Maher 

Professor of Practice at the Center on the Future of War and the School of Politics and Global Studies at ASU, a non-resident fellow with the U.S. Joint Special Operations University and the Modern War Institute at West Point.

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George Poste

Del E. Webb Professor of Health Innovation and chief scientist with the Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative at ASU, and was a member of the Defense Science Board

Kyle Ramsay

Kyle Ramsay

Professor of Practice at the Center on the Future of War and the School of Politics and Global Studies at ASU. He served 16 years as an infantry soldier and officer with the Canadian Armed Forces and other government agencies.

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Candace Rondeaux

Professor of Practice, formerly of U.S. Institute of Peace, U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction and Bureau Chief for Afghanistan/Pakistan for The Washington Post

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David Scheffer

Professor of Practice, former Ambassador at Large for War Crimes, former Director, Center for International Human Rights, and professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

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Lt. Gen. (ret.) Robert Schmidle

Professor of Practice, first Deputy Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, combat fighter pilot with a Ph.D. in philosophy from Georgetown University

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Peter W. Singer

Professor of Practice, Senior Strategist at New America, leading expert on 21st century security, author of best-selling books including Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century and LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media

Anne-Marie Slaughter

Anne-Marie Slaughter

Distinguished Professor of Practice, CEO of New America, former director of Policy Planning for the United States Department of State and former Dean of Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs

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Scott Whittaker

Professor of Practice, Chief Information Security Officer at a high-tech startup

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Col. (ret.) Isaiah “Ike” Wilson

Professor of Practice, President, Joint Special Operations University, combat veteran and expert on comparative strategy 

Fellows

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Trevor Aronson

Investigative journalist for The Intercept, executive director of the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI’s Manufactured War on Terrorism, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2019-2020

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Greg Barker

Award-winning filmmaker who directed The Final Year, a sweeping insiders’ account of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy team, Legion of Brothers, Sergio (Sundance award-winner), and numerous films for PBS/Frontline, including the acclaimed Ghosts of Rwanda, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2017-2018

Portrait of Philip Bennett

Philip Bennett

Journalist, former managing editor of the Washington Post, produced over 20 films for PBS Frontline, launched the Local Journalism Initiative, ASU Future Security Fellow 2022-2023.

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Rosa Brooks

Professor and former Associate Dean at Georgetown Law, former Counselor to Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, former Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of State, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2017

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Iona Craig

Journalist working in Yemen, winner of the 2016 Orwell Prize, 2014 Martha Gellhorn Prize and 2018 George Polk Award, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2018-2019

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Jen Daskal

currently Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, Professor and Faculty Director of the Tech, Law, Security Program at American University Washington College of Law, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2020-2021

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Patricia Evangelista

Trauma journalist from the Philippines covering disaster, conflict, and human rights issues, award-winning staff reporter for Rappler focusing on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2019-2020

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Jill Filipovic

Contributing opinion writer for The New York Times writing on women’s rights in conflict zones, author of The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2018-2019

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Joshua Geltzer

Ccurrently Special Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to the Homeland Security Advisor on Countering Domestic Violent Extremism, former Executive Director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, Georgetown University Law Center, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2017-2018

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Mike Giglio

Journalist and writer focused on war, terrorism, and national security, working on the growing political influence of U.S. militant groups, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2021-2022

Hansen

Suzy Hansen

Contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and author of Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World, which was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2019-2020

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Shane Harris

Staff writer at the Washington Post, where he covers national security, intelligence, and cyber security, as well as the author of @War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2014-2015

Portrait of Victor J. Blue

Victor J. Blue

 Photojournalist and writer focusing on the legacy of armed conflict with major projects on Afghanistan and Guatemala, work appearing regularly in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, the New York Times Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal, 7 Pictures of the Year International awards and 5 NPPA Best of Photojournalism awards, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2023-2024.

Jonathan Katz profile image

Jonathan Katz

Journalist, and author of The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster, awarded the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2018-2019

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Azmat Khan

investigative journalist, Carnegie Fellow, winner multiple awards including a Pulitzer Prize, the National Magazine Award, the Hillman Prize, the Overseas Press Club Ed Cunningham Award, and the Deadline Club Magazine Investigative Reporting Award, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2016-2017

Portrait of Khameer Kidia

Khameer Kidia

Writer, anthropologist, Rhodes Scholar, and global health physician on the faculty at Brigham and Womenʼs Hospital and Harvard Medical School, ASU Future Security Fellow 2022-2023.

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David Kilcullen

Former Chief Strategist in the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau and Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus, author of multiple best-selling books including The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West and Blood Year: The Unraveling of Western Counterterrorism, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2018

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Suki Kim

Journalist, and author of New York Times best-seller Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Korean Elite, recipient of Guggenheim, Fulbright, and Open Society fellowships ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2018-2019

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Yi-Ling Liu

Award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, Foreign Policy, The Economist, and The New Yorker, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2020-2021

Portait of Sarah Esther Maslin

Sarah Esther Maslin

Journalist focusing on Latin America, formerly the Economist’s Brazil correspondent, articles appearing in the Washington Post, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, and other publications, writing a book on the 1981 massacre in El Mozote, El Salvador and the impact of violence, trauma and impunity.

Lt. Col. Sean McCafferty

Active duty in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army, former Chief of Plans & Strategy at U.S. Army Cyber Command, Research Fellow at the Center on the Future of War

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Azadeh Moaveni

Gender Project Director, International Crisis Group, author of Guest House for Young Widows: Among the Women of ISIS, Lipstick Jihad, Honeymoon in Tehran and Iran Awakening which she co-wrote with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2016-2018

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Douglas Ollivant

Former Director for Iraq at the National Security Council during both the Bush and Obama administrations, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2019

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George Packer

Staff writer at the New Yorker since 2003, author of The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America, which won the 2013 National Book Award for non-fiction, Guggenheim fellow, Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America 2017-2018

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Janet Reitman

Contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, covering extremism, youth, and national security, best-selling author, ASU Future Security Fellow at New America 2021-2022

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Tom Ricks

Former national security correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, part of two Pulitzer Prize winning teams and author of many bestselling books including Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003-05, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2017

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Scott Silverstone

Professor of International Relations and Director of the International Relations Program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, author of From Hitler’s Germany to Saddam’s Iraq: The Enduring False Promise of Preventive War and Preventive War and American Democracy, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America, 2016-2017

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Peter W. Singer

Strategist and Senior Fellow at New America, one of the world’s leading experts on 21st century security issues, the author of multiple books on child soldiers, cyberwar and emerging military technologies including, LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media, Founding Future of War Senior Fellow 2014-2018

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David Wood

Journalist covering the military for four decades, winner of a 2012 Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on moral injury, ASU Future of War Fellow at New America, 2015-2016

Research fellows

Portrait of Rozina Ali

Rozina Ali

Journalist focusing on the Middle East and South Asia, the post-9/11 wars, and islamophobia, contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and fellow at Type Media Center and 2022-23 Cullman.

Portrait of Ben Dalton

Ben Dalton

Program manager, New America’s Future Frontlines program, formerly a journalist and producer for BuzzFeed News, World Learning, and the International Crisis Group, his work has appeared in The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, Al Jazeera, CNN.com, the Christian Science Monitor, among other publications.

Portrait of Roger Herbert

Roger Herbert

Former Robert T. Herres Distinguished Military Professor of Ethics, US Naval Academy, former Navy SEAL, Captain (ret.), US Navy, with multiple deployments, research focuses on special operations ethics and leadership

Portrait of Jeremy Hodge

Jeremy Hodge

Senior Investigator, Zomia Center and an investigative journalist covering the rise of extremism in Syria and Iraq, the petroleum/defense sectors, and regional finance, with articles in Foreign Affairs, The Nation, Le Monde Diplomatique, Al Jazeera, The Daily Beast, Africa Confidential and other publications.

Portrait of Jesse Kirkpatrick

Jesse Kirkpatrick

Research Assistant Professor and the Acting Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, George Mason University working on the ethics of peace and security and emerging technologies

Portrait of Sol Laudon

Sol Laudon

Software engineer, Director, Refugee Technology Programs at the Zomia Center, research experience in North Africa and the Middle East.

Portrait of Joanna Naples-Mitchell

Joanna Naples-Mitchell

International human rights lawyer, Director, Program on Redress for Survivors of U.S. and Coalition Airstrikes at the Zomia Center, previously worked for Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights.

Portrait of Víctor Rodríguez Rescia

Víctor Rodríguez Rescia

President of the International Institute for Social Responsibility and Human Rights (IIRESODH), former member and president of different United Nations human rights bodies and former secretary of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Portrait of David Sterman

David Sterman

Senior policy analyst, New America, focuses on violent extremism in America, proxy warfare, and the effectiveness and consequences of American counterterrorism.

Staff

Portrait of Tony Roth

Tony Roth

Sr. Coordinator, communications professional with several decades’ experience in city government and TV stations in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Phoenix, AZ.

Affiliated faculty

The Center works with over 150 affiliated faculty from multiple programs and units at ASU including scholars of political science, history, religious studies, law, engineering, public policy, sustainability, philosophy, international development, security studies, regional studies, and other fields. Affiliated faculty participate in a variety of ways, including designing and managing research projects, presenting at events and conferences, and otherwise contributing to debate, discussion, and the intellectual life of our Center.

New America team

The Center works with several dozen experts based at New America including journalists, researchers, former government officials, former members of the U.S. military, and specialists in international human rights and global humanitarian assistance. Team members mentor ASU students, participate in events, draft reports and article and otherwise support Center activities.