Dr. Albert J. Marckwardt, is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel and Foreign Area Officer that served for over 29 years in the United States Army in various policy and security cooperation positions including at the Office of Secretary of Defense for Policy as the Colombia and Venezuela Country Director, at the Defense Intelligence Agency as a Defense Strategic Intelligence Planner, at the U.S. Embassy in Honduras as a Liaison Officer and Political Military Advisor for Joint Task Force Bravo, and as a Mexico Senior Leader Engagement Officer at U.S. Army North where he worked closely with Mexico’s SEDENA. He also attended and graduated from Argentine’s Escuela Superior de Guerra (Superior War School) as an exchange student. Prior to his time as a Foreign Area Officer he deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in command and staff positions as an Armor Officer, and coauthored The Defense of Jisr al-Doreaa, the premiere tactical primer on counterinsurgency. He is currently a Lecturer and Faculty Lead for the Americas Focus Area at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He earned his Doctor of International Affairs and Master of International Public Policy degrees at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and earned a BA in International Business from Florida International University.