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 at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He holds a Ph.D. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

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 with the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia and the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. Russell served for seventeen years as a political-military analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency. He received CIA Exceptional Performance Awards for his work during the 1990-91 Gulf and 1999 Kosovo wars.