The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the national security council used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University. The center conducts policy studies and strategic analyses of political, economic and security issues throughout the world, with a focus on issues concerning international relations, trade, technology, finance, energy and geostrategy.
Richard Alan Clarke is an American national security expert, novelist, and former government official. He served as the Counterterrorism Czar for the National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-Terrorism for the United States between 1998 and 2003.
Robert Rand Brittingham Beers is an American government official. He served as Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to the President of the United States during the Barack Obama administration. He also served as acting Secretary of Homeland Security following the resignation of Secretary Janet Napolitano on September 6, 2013, until Jeh Johnson assumed that office on December 23, 2013.
The United States under secretary of defense for policy (USDP) is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The under secretary of defense for policy is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense for all matters concerning the formation of national security and defense policy.
The School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) is the international affairs and public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university located in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. SIPA offers Master of International Affairs (MIA) and Master of Public Administration (MPA) degrees in a range of fields, as well as the Executive MPA and PhD program in Sustainable Development.
Victor D. Cha is an American political scientist currently serving as president of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Richard A. Falkenrath Jr. served as deputy commissioner of counter-terrorism of the New York City Police Department from 2006 to 2010. He was the third person to hold this position. His predecessors were Frank Libutti and Michael A. Sheehan.
The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The White House Office is headed by the White House chief of staff, who is also the head of the Executive Office of the President. The staff work for and report directly to the president, including West Wing staff and the president's senior advisers. Almost all of the White House Office staff are political appointees of the president, do not require Senate confirmation and can be dismissed at the discretion of the president.
Juan Carlos Zarate is an American attorney and security advisor who served as the deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism during the George W. Bush administration. He is the chairman and co-founder of the Financial Integrity Network, a Washington, D.C.–based consulting firm, and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Kurt Michael Campbell is an American diplomat and businessman who served as the United States deputy secretary of state from 2024 to 2025. He previously served as deputy assistant advisor to President Biden and National Security Council coordinator for the Indo-Pacific from 2021 to 2024. In this capacity, Campbell had been referred to as the Biden administration's "Asia coordinator" or "Asia czar"—chief architect of Joe Biden's Asia strategy.
In international relations, the term smart power refers to the combination of hard power and soft power strategies. It is defined by the Center for Strategic and International Studies as "an approach that underscores the necessity of a strong military, but also invests heavily in alliances, partnerships, and institutions of all levels to expand one's influence and establish legitimacy of one's action."
Mary Beth Long is an American foreign policy expert, entrepreneur, and former U.S. Government official. From 2007 to 2009, Long served as the first woman confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and as such, was the first female civilian four-star military equivalent in the history of the Pentagon. She led the International Security Affairs (ISA) office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense responsible for policy for the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. She was also the first woman ever to be appointed as Chair of NATO's High Level Group (HLG), the highest-level responsible for NATO's nuclear policy and reporting directly to the Secretary General of NATO.
Lynn Etheridge Davis was United States Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs from 1993 to 1997.
Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader, public servant, educator, and author who served as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor in the Biden administration from 2021 to 2025. She previously served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.
The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, commonly referred to as the Homeland Security Advisor, is a senior aide in the National Security Council, based in the West Wing of the White House, who serves as principal advisor to the President of the United States on homeland security and counterterrorism issues.
Nicholas J. Rasmussen is the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), a United States government organization. He was sworn in on December 18, 2014 and was replaced by Russell Travers on December 24, 2017.
Kathleen Anne Holland Hicks is an American civil servant who served as the United States deputy secretary of defense from 2021 to 2025. She is the first Senate-confirmed woman in this role and is the highest-ranking woman to have served in the United States Department of Defense.
Daleep Singh is an American economist who serves as Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics in the Biden administration. Having previously served in the same role in the Biden administration, he joined PGIM Fixed Income in June 2022 as chief global economist before returning to the administration in February 2024.
Michael Pyle is an American government official who served as the Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics in the Biden administration.
