Tom Welch

Tom is a consultant focusing on defense science and technology, future warfare studies, asymmetries in key military competitions, competitive strategies, and wargames. He has held numerous positions in government including with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Defense Science Board and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. His earlier China work for the Office of the Secretary of Defense included Indicators to Track the Revolution in Military Affairs (1995) and Chinese Power Projection to 2020 (1998). Tom holds a liberal arts degree, and a masters and doctorate in physics.

Julia Coff

Julia is a PhD candidate in management and organizations at the NYU Stern School of Business. She conducts field-based, mixed-methods, meso-level research in Organizational Behavior. She studies employees’ experiences of transition at work, with a particular focus on how widespread changes in the way individuals and organizations work can, in turn, change what they pay attention to and how they pay attention to it. Currently, she investigates this in the context of the transition from co-located to virtual work arrangements. Before joining the PhD program, Julia spent a decade working in software and sustainable energy.

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Don Casler

Don is a postdoctoral research associate at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and an incoming assistant professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on foreign policy decision making and political psychology. Don’s work has been published or is forthcoming in the Journal of Politics, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, and World Politics. He holds a BA in government from Dartmouth College and a PhD in political science from Columbia University.

Travis Zahnow

AWMF Publication

“America’s Reactive Foreign Policy: How U.S. Organizational Behavior and Culture Advantages China”

Biography

Travis is an actively serving U.S. Army Strategist and a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He previously served as an Art of War Scholar at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) and as a research assistant at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs. He holds an MA in Strategic Studies and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), an MMAS in Strategy from CGSC, and a BS from the United States Military Academy.

Elliot M. Seckler

AWMF Publication

“America’s Reactive Foreign Policy: How U.S. Organizational Behavior and Culture Advantages China”

Biography

Elliot currently serves as a John S. McCain Strategic Defense Fellow in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He received an MA in Strategic Studies and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (’22), as well as a BA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University (’20). During his academic career, he worked at Rebellion Defense, National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), U.S. House of Representatives, Kirkland and Ellis LLP, and Textron Systems.

Ido Levy

Ido is an associate fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a PhD student at American University’s School of International Service. He is the author of the book Soldiers of End-Times: Assessing the Military Effectiveness of the Islamic State, published by The Washington Institute. His work has appeared in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Middle Easy Policy, Terrorism and Political Violence, Small Wars Journal, NBC, Jerusalem Post, and other publications.

Evan M. Dudik

Evan is a strategy consultant, writer and entrepreneur living in Washington State, USA. He is the author of Strategic Renaissance (AMACOM, 2001) and holds 2 medically-related patents. Evan worked as a Washington, DC lobbyist in energy and transportation, as a McKinsey & Co. consultant and president of EMD & Assoc., Inc. Evan holds a B.A. from St. John’s College (Annapolis, MD), a PhD from the University of Texas (Austin) and an MBA from Harvard. He lives in Vancouver, WA with his wife Jane, a terrific mom and entrepreneur, and some books.

Emily A. Davis

AWMF Publication

“‘The Incalculable Element’: Ancient Innovations for Modern Security Problems,” May 2023.

Biography

Emily is a PhD candidate in Political Theory at the University of Texas at Austin. Her dissertation examines the ambiguous concept of charismatic leadership through works by thinkers such as Weber, Xenophon, and Plutarch. After graduation, she hopes to continue exploring questions of justice, leadership, and political ambition as seen in both ancient and modern texts—and to continue considering how the teachings of these texts illuminate the political problems we face today.

Linda Zhang

Finalist, 2021 Andrew W. Marshall Paper Prize on Future Reconfigurations in Asia 2045

Linda Zhang is a Professional Staff Member on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, where she specializes in trade and economic issues. Previously, she worked at the United Nations in the Department of Operational Support and the American Enterprise Institute, where she researched issues related to the Chinese economy, demographics, and U.S.-China relations. She was a Liu Xiaobo Fellow with the Congressional Executive Commission on China and a special assistant at the U.S.-China Strong Foundation. She holds an M.A. in Strategic Studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a Certificate in Chinese studies from the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, and a B.A. from Boston University.

Treston Wheat

Winner, 2021 Andrew W. Marshall Paper Prize on Future Reconfigurations in Asia 2045

AWMF Publication

“‘A State in Disguise of a Merchant’: Multinational Tech Corporations and the Reconfiguration of the Balance of Power in Asia,” October 2022.

Biography

Treston Wheat is a red team analyst with Milestone Technologies focusing on threat actor/tactics, techniques, and procedures research; wargaming; and alternative analysis. Previously, he worked as a strategic cybersecurity analyst and geopolitical risk analyst for AS Solution embedded in a major tech company. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) with a dissertation on Augustinian just war theory and drone warfare, and during that time taught classes on American government, the presidency, and political cinema. He also received his B.A. in Political Science and History from UTK and his M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University.

Arthur Tellis

Hudson Institute Center for Defense Concepts and Technology

Scholar Publication

“Immaterial Competition: Rethinking the Roles of Economics and Technology in the US-China Rivalry,” May 2022.

Biography

Arthur Tellis is an operations research analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation. His portfolio includes artificial intelligence, machine learning, and related enablers. He previously worked in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on cyberspace operations technology development, cybersecurity partnerships, and intelligence issues. Prior to joining the Department of Defense, he was a staffer on the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he supported the committee’s oversight and legislative activities within the cyberspace operations and cybersecurity portfolio. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 2016 with a major in Economics and a minor in History.

Stéphane Malsagne

AWMF Publications

“Franco-Chinese Relations from Yesterday to Tomorrow and the Future of the CCP,” March 2023.

“Les relations francochinoises, d’hier à demain, et l’avenir du PCC,” March 2023.

Biography

Stéphane Malsagne holds a PhD in Contemporary History from the Sorbonne University (Paris I) and is a researcher on Chinese and Middle East history. He has taught in different French academic institutions and has authored numerous books (two received prestigious awards from the French Academy and the Arab World Institute) and scientific articles in France and overseas. His most recent book forthcoming in 2022 is about Chinese contemporary history and offers the first full biography of Mao’s forgotten successor: “Avec toi au pouvoir, je suis tranquille”. Hua Guofeng (1921-2008), Les Indes savantes.