Richard L. Russell is Professor of National Security Affairs at the National Defense University’s Near East and South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. He also is Adjunct Professor of Security Studies in the Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.

Russell’s career blends scholarship with national security practice. He previously taught American foreign policy, security studies, and international relations for the University of California at Berkeley, George Washington University, and the University of Virginia, respectively. He has held research appointments at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Russell also served seventeen years as a political-military analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he analyzed security issues in the Middle East and Europe. He received numerous CIA Exceptional Performance Awards, two of which were for his work during the 1990-91 Gulf war and the 1999 Kosovo war.

Education
• Ph.D. Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia
• M.A. International Affairs, American University
• B.A. Economics, cum laude, Union College

Areas of Interest
• American National Security Policy
• Strategy and Military Operations
• Civil-Military Relations
• Nuclear Weapons Proliferation
• Intelligence

Suggested Readings
• Paul McGeough. (2009). Kill Khalid: The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas. New York: New Press.
• Steven R. Ward. (2009) Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
• David H. Ucko. (2009). The New Counterinsurgency Era: Transforming the U.S. Military for Modern Wars. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.