Eliot A. Cohen is the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Robert E. Osgood Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he has taught since 1990. He received his BA and PhD degrees from Harvard and taught there and at the U.S. Naval War College before going to SAIS, where he has also served as the school’s ninth dean. His books include, most recently, The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force (Basic Books, 2017), as well as Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battle Along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War (FreePress, 2011) and Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime (Anchor, 2002), among others. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve, was a director in the Defense Department’s policy planning staff, led the U.S. Air Force’s multivolume study of the first Gulf War, and has served in various official advisory positions. From 2007 to 2009 he was counselor of the Department of State, serving as Secretary Condoleezza Rice’s senior adviser, focusing chiefly on issues of war and peace, including Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and his commentary has also appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and on major television networks.
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In the News
The Three Logics of the Prigozhin Putsch
Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic — June 27, 2023
It’s Not Enough for Ukraine to Win. Russia Has to Lose.
Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic — May 19, 2023
The Shortest Path to Peace
Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic — February 28, 2023
The cold hard truth: Ukraine could lose to Putin if it can’t win this year
Eliot A. Cohen in Washington Examiner — February 24, 2023
The Conflict in Ukraine Offers Old—and New—Lessons in 21st-Century Warfare
Eliot A. Cohen in The Wall Street Journal — February 23, 2023
Move Fast and Win Things
Eliot A. Cohen in Foreign Affairs — February 22, 2023
Smartphones Are Changing the War in Ukraine
Eliot A. Cohen in The Wall Street Journal — February 16, 2023
Western Aid to Ukraine Is Still Not Enough
Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic — January 17, 2023
All Eliot A. Cohen Content
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Putin and the Prigozhin Putsch
Podcast Episode by Eliot A. Cohen and H. Andrew Schwartz — June 30, 2023
Lessons in U.S. Intelligence and Special Operations
Event by Seth G. Jones , Eliot A. Cohen , Emily Harding , and Michael G. Vickers — June 16, 2023
Book Event: White Sun War: The Campaign for Taiwan
Event by Charles Edel , Eliot A. Cohen , Emily Harding , and Mick Ryan — March 30, 2023
One Year Later: Assessing Russia’s War In Ukraine
Event by Seth G. Jones , Emily Harding , Eliot A. Cohen , and Hon. Michael Vickers — February 17, 2023
Experts React: Factors Shaping the Russia-Ukraine Conflict in 2023
Commentary by Emily Harding , Benjamin Jensen , Heather Williams , and Eliot A. Cohen — February 13, 2023
Eliot Cohen on Russia-Ukraine and Iran-Israel
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — February 6, 2023
Visions of Kiev
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — September 30, 2022
Security Assistance to Ukraine: The State Department’s Role
Event by Eliot A. Cohen , Dr. Dafna H. Rand , Ambassador Todd D. Robinson , Jessica Lewis , and Kathryn Insley — July 13, 2022
Chicago Rules of War
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — July 7, 2022
Russia Processing Reality
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Eliot A. Cohen — June 23, 2022