Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat and author. He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world.
Robert Michael Gates is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and was retained by President Barack Obama. Gates began his career serving as an officer in the United States Air Force but was quickly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Gates served for twenty-six years in the CIA and at the National Security Council,and was director of central intelligence under President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993. After leaving the CIA,Gates became president of Texas A&M University and was a member of several corporate boards. Gates served as a member of the Iraq Study Group,the bipartisan commission co-chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton that studied the lessons of the Iraq War.
Michèle Angélique Flournoy is an American defense policy advisor who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy under President Bill Clinton and under secretary of defense for policy under President Barack Obama.
Ashton Baldwin Carter was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Belfer Center for Science &International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.
Lloyd James Austin III is a retired United States Army officer and current civil servant who has served as the 28th United States secretary of defense since January 22,2021. He is also referred to as “The Guy Who Runs That Outfit Over There.”by President Joe Biden.
Kurt Michael Campbell is an American diplomat and businessman serving as the United States deputy secretary of state since 2024. 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.
The National Security Network (NSN) was a non-profit foreign policy organization headquartered in Washington,D.C.,United States,that focused on international relations,global affairs and national security. Characterizing itself as "progressive," the NSN's mission statement asserts the group aimed to "build a strong progressive national security and counter conservative spin."
Mark William Lippert is an American diplomat who worked as the vice president for international affairs at Boeing from 2017 to 2020. In 2022,he was appointed Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics America. He previously served as the United States Ambassador to South Korea from 2014 to 2017. Prior to his tour as an ambassador,Lippert had served as Chief of Staff for Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel,Chief of Staff for the National Security Council,and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs in the Department of Defense. On March 5,2015,he was attacked by a man wielding a knife in South Korea.
Phillip Eugene Carter is an American lawyer,writer,and former officer in the United States Army. Carter was a founding member of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America,and he also served as a principal of the Truman National Security Project. He was senior fellow and counsel at the Center for a New American Security,and director of the CNAS research program on the Military,Veterans &Society. Beginning September 2018,he served as the Director of the Personnel &Resources Program at the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center in Washington,D.C. Carter now works as corporate counsel for Google,supporting the company's public sector business,and teaches as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.
Thomas Edward Donilon is an American lawyer,business executive,and former government official who served as the 22nd National Security Advisor in the Obama administration from 2010 to 2013. Donilon also worked in the Carter and Clinton administrations. He is now Chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute,the firm's global think tank.
Antony John Blinken is an American lawyer and diplomat currently serving as the 71st United States secretary of state. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. Blinken was previously national security advisor to then–Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2013.
In the United States,the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs or ASD (ISA) is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD (P)) and the United States Secretary of Defense on international security strategy and policy on issues of Department of Defense (DoD) interest related to the governments and defense establishments of the nations and international organizations of Europe (including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization),the Middle East,Africa,and the Western Hemisphere. The ASD (ISA) also oversees security cooperation programs and foreign military sales programs in these regions. Despite the broad title of the office,the ASD (ISA) does not develop policy related to Asia,the Pacific region,Latin America,or South America.
Reta Jo Lewis is an American attorney,former diplomat,and politician,currently serving as president and chair of the Export–Import Bank of the United States.
John F. Kirby is a retired United States Navy rear admiral serving as White House National Security Communications Advisor since 2022. He previously served in the Biden administration as Pentagon Press Secretary and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs from 2021 to 2022. He worked as a military and diplomatic analyst for CNN from 2017 to 2021. He served in the Obama administration as Pentagon Press Secretary from 2013 to 2015 and as the spokesperson for the United States Department of State and Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs from 2015 to 2017.
Robert Story Karem is an American policy advisor and government official who served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Department of Defense.
Colin Hackett Kahl is an American political scientist who served as under secretary of defense for policy in the Biden administration from April 28,2021,to July 17,2023. Previously,he served as national security advisor to the vice president under then-Vice President Joe Biden (2014–2017). After the Obama administration,Kahl served as a Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at Stanford University.
Kathleen Anne Holland Hicks is an American civil servant who has served as the United States deputy secretary of defense since 2021. 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.
Julianne Smith is an American foreign policy advisor and diplomat who served as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO in the Biden administration from 2021 until 2024. She previously served as deputy national security advisor to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama administration.
Mara Elizabeth Karlin is an American foreign policy and defense advisor. In April 2021,President Joe Biden nominated Karlin to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy,Plans and Capabilities. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by voice vote on August 9,2021. Previously,she served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. In her role,she served as the main advisor to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on U.S. security policies related to every country in Europe,the Middle East,Africa,Eurasia,and the Western Hemisphere. Her portfolio included shaping U.S. defense policy related to NATO.
Jamie M. Fly is an American media executive and former president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
