Eliot A. Cohen
Dean
About
In July 2019, Eliot A. Cohen was appointed the ninth dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Cohen has been a respected member of the school’s faculty since his appointment as the Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies in 1990. Over the years Cohen has held several leadership roles at the school including directing the strategic studies program, founding and directing the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, and serving as the Executive Vice Dean this past year. He has twice won the school’s Excellence in Teaching Award and has extensive experience in executive education, including serving as an adjunct professor at the US Army War College.
Cohen is a 1977 graduate of Harvard College and earned his PhD in political science from the university in 1982. From 1982 to 1985 he was Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard, and Assistant Dean of Harvard College. In 1985 he became a member of the Strategy Department of the United States Naval War College. In February 1990 he joined the Policy Planning Staff of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and in July of that year he was appointed Professor of Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
From April 2007 through January 2009 he served as Counselor of the Department of State. A principal officer of the Department, he had special responsibility for advising the Secretary on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia, as well as general strategic issues. He represented the Department of State in interagency coordination with senior National Security Council staff, Department of Defense, and intelligence community officials on a number of issues, including the Syrian/North Korean reactor crisis of 2007.
Eliot Cohen is the author of The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force(2017), Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles along the Great Warpath that made the American Way of War (2011), Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime (2002). His other books are Commandos and Politicians (1978) and Citizens and Soldiers (1985). He is, as well, co-author of Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War (1990), Revolution in Warfare? Air Power in the Persian Gulf (1995), and Knives, Tanks, and Missiles: Israel’s Security Revolution (1998), and co-editor of Strategy in the Contemporary World (2002) and War over Kosovo (2001). From 1991 to 1993 he directed and edited the official study of air power in the 1991 war with Iraq. For his leadership of The Gulf War Air Power Survey, which included eleven book-length reports, he received the Air Force’s decoration for exceptional civilian service. His articles have appeared in numerous scholarly and popular journals, he publishes often in national newspapers such as the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times and is a contributing editor at The Atlantic.
In 1982 he was commissioned as a military intelligence officer in the United States Army Reserve. In the past he has served as a member of the Defense Policy Advisory Board and the National Security Advisory Panel of the National Intelligence Council, and of the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and of the Committee on Studies of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
Cohen is a 1977 graduate of Harvard College and earned his PhD in political science from the university in 1982. From 1982 to 1985 he was Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard, and Assistant Dean of Harvard College. In 1985 he became a member of the Strategy Department of the United States Naval War College. In February 1990 he joined the Policy Planning Staff of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and in July of that year he was appointed Professor of Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS.
From April 2007 through January 2009 he served as Counselor of the Department of State. A principal officer of the Department, he had special responsibility for advising the Secretary on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia, as well as general strategic issues. He represented the Department of State in interagency coordination with senior National Security Council staff, Department of Defense, and intelligence community officials on a number of issues, including the Syrian/North Korean reactor crisis of 2007.
Eliot Cohen is the author of The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force(2017), Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles along the Great Warpath that made the American Way of War (2011), Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime (2002). His other books are Commandos and Politicians (1978) and Citizens and Soldiers (1985). He is, as well, co-author of Military Misfortunes: The Anatomy of Failure in War (1990), Revolution in Warfare? Air Power in the Persian Gulf (1995), and Knives, Tanks, and Missiles: Israel’s Security Revolution (1998), and co-editor of Strategy in the Contemporary World (2002) and War over Kosovo (2001). From 1991 to 1993 he directed and edited the official study of air power in the 1991 war with Iraq. For his leadership of The Gulf War Air Power Survey, which included eleven book-length reports, he received the Air Force’s decoration for exceptional civilian service. His articles have appeared in numerous scholarly and popular journals, he publishes often in national newspapers such as the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times and is a contributing editor at The Atlantic.
In 1982 he was commissioned as a military intelligence officer in the United States Army Reserve. In the past he has served as a member of the Defense Policy Advisory Board and the National Security Advisory Panel of the National Intelligence Council, and of the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and of the Committee on Studies of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
Cohen, E. (2017). The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force. New York: Basic Books.
Cohen, E. (2012). Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War. New York: Free Press.
In the News
Trump's attacks put military in 'Presidential Campaign Minefield'.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen quoted on NPR, 9/10
Dozens of former national security officials who served Republican administrations are supporting Joe Biden in November.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen, Robert D. Blackwill, Eric Edelman, and Shirin Tahir-Kheli cited on Defending Democracy Together website, 8/20
The American role in the world.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen participated in Alexander Hamilton Society webinar, 7/16
Veering toward a civilian-military crisis.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen, David Barno, and Nora Bensahel quoted and Mara Karlin and Paula Thornhill cited in Johns Hopkins Hub, 6/30
Forever altered: Two-day forum explores shifting geopolitical order.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen and Francis J. Gavin quoted in Johns Hopkins Hub, 6/29
A profoundly unserious way of dealing with the past.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen wrote in The Atlantic, 6/24
Trump heads to West Point amid tension with top military brass and a nation whipsawed by racial tension.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen quoted in USA Today, 6/12
Trump’s dangerous militarization of U.S. politics.
. Dean Eliot A. Cohen cited in The Washington Post, 6/5
89 former Defense officials: The military must never be used to violate constitutional rights.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen, Mara Karlin, and Paula Thornhill cited in The Washington Post, 6/5
With his remarks on the murder of George Floyd, Joe Biden showed us how to teach empathy and American history.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen cited by The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 6/3
The U.S. government is failing catastrophically at its most basic function.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen cited in The Washington Post, 3/16
If the U.S. doesn’t lead, no one else really can.
Dean Eliot Cohen interviewed in Korea Joongang Daily, 2/13
The courage and dedication, and sometimes tragedy, of America’s diplomats.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen wrote in The Washington Post, 1/2
SAIS’ Cohen on U.S. strategy, civil-military relations, new book on Shakespeare.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen interviewed on Defense & Aerospace Report, 12/22
Thinking historically: A guide for strategy and statecraft.
Francis J. Gavin wrote and Dean Eliot A. Cohen cited in War on the Rocks, 11/19
Pompeo previously denied that McKinley raised concerns.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen interviewed on MSNBC Morning Joe, 11/5
To sir, with no love; Professor Petraeus misses the mark.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen cited in The American Conservative, 11/5
The yes-men have taken over the Trump administration.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen quoted in The Atlantic, 11/4
Mike Pence’s China speech is just a symptom of Donald Trump’s incoherent foreign policy, drowning out more rational voices.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen cited in South China Morning Post, 10/29
The ‘Never Trump’ coalition that decided eh, never mind, he’s fine.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen quoted in The New York Times, 10/5
Trump’s new world disorder: Competitive, chaotic, conflicted.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen cited in The Guardian, 9/14
Preparing leaders for an era of change.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen wrote in Foreign Affairs' Graduate School Forum Showcase, 9/10
‘Trump unplugged’: A president as his own national security adviser.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen quoted in The New York Times, 9/10
Can Republican intellectuals survive the age of Trump?
Dean Eliot A. Cohen interviewed in Bloomberg, 4/27
A building crisis in American foreign policy.
Eliot A. Cohen interviewed on CBS News Intelligence Matters podcast, 3/26
Former senior national security officials to issue declaration on national emergency.
Eliot A. Cohen cited in The Washington Post, 2/25
Former senior national security officials to rebuke Trump's national emergency declaration.
Eliot A. Cohen cited on CNN, 2/25
The week ahead in education politics: Congress eyes crumbling buildings, new insights on STEM education, striking teachers & more.
Dean Eliot A. Cohen cited in The 74, 2/9