Jake Bebber Named as Second Andrew W. Marshall Scholar

Sponsored by Hudson Institute


Jaffrey, NH – The Andrew W. Marshall Foundation (AWMF) welcomes its second Andrew W. Marshall Scholar, Robert “Jake” Bebber, who will be sponsored by Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology from May 2022 to April 2023.

The Andrew W. Marshall Scholar experiment provides new voices with the resources and guidance to conduct a year-long study on U.S. national security.

Jake’s study will offer a methodological approach to understand and evaluate complex social systems necessary for the United States to achieve strategic effects. Building on the U.S. Cyber Command’s effective operational concepts of persistent engagement and defending forward, the study will apply trends in neuroscience, dual use technology, and financial business models to focus on confrontation and tools below armed conflict. The study’s results will propose lines of effort that create battlespace awareness, identify U.S. and adversary vulnerabilities, conduct cognitive and counter-cognitive campaigns, and best build and employ forces and capabilities to compete and win in this enduring confrontation.

“The Andrew W. Marshall Foundation is delighted to welcome Jake into its community of new voices,” Jaymie Durnan, Co-founder and Chairman of AWMF, said. “Jake’s interdisciplinary study will use an innovative social science approach to explore important questions about U.S. strategy to compete below the threshold of armed conflict.”

“Jake’s research will apply his experience and knowledge of cyber operations to explore new ways of thinking about great power confrontations,” Bryan Clark, Director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, said. “U.S. Cyber Command is one element of the U.S. government that is effectively countering Chinese and Russian hybrid or gray-zone aggression, which offers some insights for U.S. strategy more broadly.”

Established in July 2020, Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology examines the evolving field of military competition and the implications of emerging technologies for defense strategy, military operations, capability development, and acquisition.

In 2021, Hudson Institute selected Arthur Tellis as the inaugural Andrew W. Marshall Scholar. Arthur’s study, to be published in the spring of 2022, focuses on the role of economics in the U.S.-China competition.


For more information, visit the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation and Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.

For media inquiries, contact the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation at info@andrewwmarshallfoundation.org or Hudson Institute at press@hudson.org.

Follow AWMF on Twitter @AWMFoundtn and LinkedIn.

Follow Hudson Institute on Twitter @HudsonInstitute and LinkedIn.

Statement from the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation on the Passing of Donald Rumsfeld

We mourn the passing of Donald Rumsfeld and offer our deepest condolences to his family. From the Navy to Capitol Hill, from NATO to the White House, in the halls of the Pentagon, and as co-founder of the Rumsfeld Foundation with his wife Joyce, Secretary Rumsfeld was a man with unwavering convictions and a dedicated public servant passionate about the long-term national security of the United States.

When Secretary Rumsfeld entered the Pentagon in 1975 and again in 2001, Andy Marshall, as the director of the Office of Net Assessment, was one of the first people he called to his office. In 1975, Secretary Rumsfeld was interested in understanding the U.S. long-term competitive position vis a vis the Soviet Union. In 2001, he was interested in what had changed, and what the nation should be concerned with over the next several decades. Throughout his life, Secretary Rumsfeld demonstrated great curiosity, refreshing candor, and recognition of the need for long-term, diagnostic thinking. He was a great friend to Andy and an ardent supporter of his work.

When the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation was in its nascent stages, Secretary Rumsfeld provided indispensable guidance to us from his own experiences in philanthropy. He believed in our mission, and we will ever-appreciate his kindness.

The Andrew W. Marshall Paper Prizes

AWMF will award two prizes of up to $13,000 for well-researched, intellectually bold work on Future Reconfigurations in Asia 2045 and New Revolutions in Military Affairs.


As part of its mission to find and foster new voices to address strategic questions surrounding the long-term competitions facing the United States, the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation (AWMF) is offering two multi-round prizes of up to $13,000 for well-researched, intellectually bold work on Future Reconfigurations in Asia 2045 and New Revolutions in Military Affairs.

Winners will have the opportunity to present their work to leading scholars and practitioners in the national security field and beyond, and have their submission published as a “working paper” by AWMF.

AWMF seeks papers that are diagnostic rather than prescriptive; are informed and speculative; build upon a foundation of research; and employ an interdisciplinary approach.

Both paper prize competitions consist of three rounds. Submissions of abstracts for consideration for the Round One prizes are due by 11:59 PM ET on Monday, 28 June 2021.

Round One
Submission of Abstract
Up to 10 Semi-Finalists Awarded $500

Round Two
Submission of Paper
Up to 5 Finalists Awarded $2,500

Round Three
Submission of Final Paper
Grand Prize Winner Awarded $10,000

These competitions are open to all. AWMF is eager to find new voices of any age, background, experience, or discipline, including practitioners and scholars from non-traditional backgrounds with knowledge and skills transferable to national security studies.

More Information

The Andrew W. Marshall Foundation Launches Scholar Program

AWMF Designates the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology at Hudson Institute as the First Host of the Andrew W. Marshall Scholar


Jaffrey, NH – The Andrew W. Marshall Foundation (AWMF) has launched the Andrew W. Marshall Scholar program. Its first scholar is hosted by Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.

The Andrew W. Marshall Scholar will author a study that reflects Andrew Marshall’s approach to long-term, strategic thinking, and in particular, the comparative, diagnostic practice of net assessment: an analytical approach that explores the state of military competitions, the trends and asymmetries that define them, the strategic challenges competitors face, and the strategic management opportunities they have to improve their positions. Scholars may propose topics exploring the enduring characteristics and capabilities of U.S. competitors, as well as asymmetries that may provide opportunities for U.S. competitive advantage.

“The Andrew W. Marshall Foundation is pleased to select Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology as the first host of the Andrew W. Marshall Scholar program,” Jaymie A. Durnan, Chairman of the Foundation, said. “The intention of this program is to honor Andy Marshall’s legacy and uphold his analytic tradition. This program will support scholars with great intellectual curiosity and potential to explore important facets of U.S. strategic competitions.”

Established in July 2020, Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology examines the evolving field of military competition and the implications of emerging technologies for defense strategy, military operations, capability development, and acquisition.

“The intention of this program is to honor Andy Marshall’s legacy and uphold his analytic tradition. This program will support scholars with great intellectual curiosity and potential to explore important facets of U.S. strategic competitions.”
— Jaymie A. Durnan, AWMF Chairman

Hudson Institute has selected Arthur Tellis as the inaugural Andrew W. Marshall Scholar. Mr. Tellis’s study will focus on the economic dimensions of the strategic competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.

“We are extremely happy to host the Andrew W. Marshall Scholar program at the Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology,” said Bryan Clark, director of the Center for Defense Concepts and Technology. “Net assessment, which Andrew Marshall pioneered, is a technique we believe will be essential to gaining advantage against the United States’ current peer competitors in what is likely to be a fiscally constrained environment. We are looking forward to Marshall scholars advancing the art and science of net assessment.”

The Andrew W. Marshall Foundation was established by Andrew W. Marshall and Jaymie A. Durnan. AWMF’s mission is to find and foster new voices who boldly cross disciplinary boundaries and experiment with new analytical methods to address the strategic questions facing the United States over the coming decades. In keeping with this mission, AWMF defines its programs as experiments. In January 2021, AWMF announced the Andrew W. Marshall Fellow program, which gives an extraordinary thinker the opportunity to research and write on a topic of deep importance to the long-term security of the United States over one to two years in residence at a host institution. AWMF will be announcing additional experiments for 2021 in the coming months.

Net assessment, which Andrew Marshall pioneered, is a technique we believe will be essential to gaining advantage against the United States’ current peer competitors in what is likely to be a fiscally constrained environment. We are looking forward to Marshall scholars advancing the art and science of net assessment.”
— Bryan Clark, Hudson Institute

Andrew W. Marshall (1921-2019) dedicated his life to rigorous analysis, the development of the best minds, and the defense of the United States. His career spanned more than seven decades, including 25 years at the RAND Corporation and more than 40 years as the Director of Net Assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. During this time, Marshall committed his energy to guiding innovative analytic work that served senior leaders in confronting the Soviet Union, adapting to changes in the character of warfare, and recognizing the growing importance of the Asia-Pacific region to U.S. defense planning.


For more information, visit the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation and Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.

For media inquiries, contact the Andrew W. Marshall Foundation at info@andrewwmarshallfoundation.org or Hudson Institute at press@hudson.org.

Follow AWMF on Twitter @AWMFoundtn and LinkedIn.

Follow Hudson Institute on Twitter @HudsonInstitute and LinkedIn.