Eliot A. Cohen

Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy
Eliot A. Cohen

Eliot A. Cohen is the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he has taught since 1990. He received his BA and PhD degrees from Harvard and taught there and at the U.S. Naval War College before going to SAIS, where he has also served as the school’s ninth dean. His books include, most recently, The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall (Basic Books, 2023), as well as The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force (Basic Books, 2017), Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battle Along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War (FreePress, 2011) and Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime (Anchor, 2002), among others. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve, was a director in the Defense Department’s policy planning staff, led the U.S. Air Force’s multivolume study of the first Gulf War, and has served in various official advisory positions. From 2007 to 2009 he was counselor of the Department of State, serving as Secretary Condoleezza Rice’s senior adviser, focusing chiefly on issues of war and peace, including Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and his commentary has also appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and on major television networks. His next book, The Strategist: How to Think About War and Politics, will be published by Princeton University Press in October 2026.

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Introduction: How to Think About Modern Warfare

A confluence of political, social, and technological changes has collectively made war something very different than the practitioners and theorists of the Cold War expected and understood. These changes should be examined and understood from multiple perspectives.

Commentary by Eliot A. Cohen — September 16, 2025

Audio Briefs

Introduction: How to Think About Modern Warfare

An audio version of "⁠Introduction: How to Think About Modern Warfare⁠," a new commentary by CSIS’s Eliot A. Cohen. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs. 

Podcast Episode by Eliot A. Cohen — September 16, 2025

Audio Briefs
Audio Briefs

Experts React: What’s at Stake in the Trump–Putin Alaska Meeting

An audio version of “⁠Experts React: What’s at Stake in the Trump–Putin Alaska Meeting,⁠” a new Commentary by CSIS’s Seth G. Jones, Eliot A. Cohen, Maria Snegovaya, Mark F. Cancian, and Benjamin Jensen. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by CSIS Scholars — August 11, 2025

Audio Briefs

Experts React: What’s at Stake in the Trump–Putin Alaska Meeting

As Trump and Putin prepare to meet in Alaska amid the Ukraine war, questions arise over potential agreements, Ukraine’s absence, and the future of peace. CSIS experts analyze the political, military, and diplomatic stakes shaping this critical summit.

Commentary by CSIS Scholars — August 11, 2025

The Truth of the Matter

Israel’s Strategic Objectives and the Future of Warfare

CSIS’s Eliot A. Cohen, former dean of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and former councilor to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joins the podcast to discuss Israel’s strategic objectives, potential regime change in Iran and what Israel’s military operation indicates for the future of warfare.

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — June 18, 2025

CSIS the truth of the matter

Russia’s War in Ukraine and the Prospects for Peace

Three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war continues to rage. But peace negotiations have now begun. How has the war evolved? And what are the prospects for peace? Join the CSIS Defense and Security Department for a virtual discussion on the state of the conflict.

Event — February 24, 2025