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 holds appointments as Adjunct Professor in the Security Studies Program and Research Associate in the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Russell 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 also served seventeen years as a political-military analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, where Russell 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.