Rich Hooker

Richard David Hooker, Jr.
 
Education
University of Virginia, Ph.D., Foreign Affairs
University of Virginia, M.A., Foreign Affairs
National War College, M.S., National Security Studies
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
United States Military Academy, B.S.
            
Affiliations
Distinguished Senior Fellow, The Jamestown Foundation
Senior Associate, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center
Life Member, The Council on Foreign Relations
 
Current Position
Senior Fellow, The Atlantic Council
 
Previous Positions
The Theodore Roosevelt Chair in National Security Studies, National Defense University
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Europe and Russia, 
National Security Council, The White House
Director, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Washington D.C.
Deputy Commandant and Dean, NATO Defense College, Rome, Italy
Chief of Staff of the Army Chair, National War College, 
National Defense University
Director for Iraq, Office for Iraq and Afghanistan, National Security Council, 
The White House
Senior Aide de Camp and Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Army
Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Director for Defense Policy, National Security Council,
The White House
Assistant to the Director of National Service,
The White House 
Assistant Professor of Political Science,
United States Military Academy
Military Commander and Staff Officer
 
Teaching Experience
University Professor, National Defense University, 2013-2019 
Dean of the College, NATO Defense College 2010-2013
Professor and Chief of Staff of the Army Chair, 
National War College, National Defense University 2008-2009
Assistant Professor, United States Military Academy, 1989-1992; 
Instructor, American Politics 1989-1992; Instructor, Military Science
1989-1991; Course Director, Executive Politics 1990-1992
 
Books
The High Ground: Leading in Peace and War
Casemate, 2023
The Good Captain: A Personal Memoir of America at War
Casemate, 2022 
Beyond Vom Kriege:  The Character and Conduct of Modern War, 
University of North Georgia Press, 2020
Charting a Course: Strategic Choices for a New Administration, 
Editor and Co-Author, National Defense University Press, 2016
Lessons Encountered: Learning from the Long War, 
Editor and Co-Author, National Defense University Press, 2015
The Wrath of Achilles: Essays on Battle Command,
Editor and Co-Author, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 
Combat Studies Institute Press, 2012
By Their Deeds Alone: America’s Combat Commanders on the Art of War, 
Editor and Co-Author, Random House/Ballantine Books, 2003
Maneuver Warfare: An Anthology, Editor and Co-Author, Presidio Press, 1994 
(Commandant of the Marine Corps Professional Reading List; used for instructional purposes at the British and French Staff Colleges)  

Selected Publications“Building a Stronger Europe,” 
Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center, February 2025
“A New Army Air Force,” Joint Force Quarterly, July 2024
“A New NATO Command Structure,” The Atlantic Council, June 2024
“Why NATO Matters,” The Atlantic Council, May 2024
“NATO Cannot Survive Without America,” Foreign Affairs, May 13, 2024,
With Hans Binnendijk and Alexander Vershbow
“A Security Strategy for the Black Sea,” The Atlantic Council, December 2023.
“Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations,” in
Hand-Off: The Foreign Policy George W. Bush Passed to Barack Obama, 
ed. Stephen Hadley et al, Brooking Institution Press, 2023
“America’s SOF Problem,” Joint Force Quarterly, January 2023
"The State of NATO: An American View," Survival, Vol. 64, June 2022
"Climbing the Ladder: How the U.S. Can Manage Escalation in Ukraine and Beyond," 
The Atlantic Council, April 2022
"Major Theater War: Challenges for the U.S. Army"
Association of the U.S. Army, January 2022 
“The North Atlantic Community Renewed: Challenges, Trends, and Solutions, “
The Atlantic Council, February 2021
“Understanding U.S. National Military Strategy,” in J.H. Matlary and R. Johnsen, Military Strategy in the 21st Century: Challenges to NATO, Oxford University Press, 2021
“Russia Attacks the Baltic States,” Royal United Services Institute Journal, 2020
“How to Fight the Russians,” 
Association of the U.S. Army  Institute of Land Warfare,
Paper 135, November 2020 
“Taking the War College from Good to Great,” Parameters, Fall 2019
“Over the Horizon: NATO Joint ISR in the Baltic Sea,” The Atlantic Council, November 2019
“How to Defend the Baltic States,” The Jamestown Foundation, October 2019
“The NSC Staff: New Choices for a New Administration,” 
National Defense University Press Strategic Monograph, July 2016
“Operation Baltic Fortress: NATO Defends the Baltic States,” 
Royal United Services Institute Journal , Vol. 160, 2016
“Airpower in American Wars,” Survival, Vol. 58, June 2016
“Understanding U.S. Grand Strategy,” Orbis, Summer 2015 
“American Landpower and the Two-War Construct,” Land Warfare Paper 106, 
Association of the U.S. Army, May 2015
“The Grand Strategy of the United States,” Institute for National Strategic Studies 
Strategic Monologue, National Defense University Press, Fall 2014 
"America's Ultimate Strategy in a Clash with China,” with T.X. Hammes, 
The National Interest, June 10, 2014.
“The Strange Voyage: A Short Précis on Strategy,” Parameters, Winter 2012/2013
“Iron Resolve: A Vision of Future War,” Royal United Services Institute Journal, 
December 2012
“Operation Enduring Freedom X: CJTF–82 and the Future of COIN,” 
Joint Force Quarterly, Winter 2011
“First with the Truth: Synchronized Communications in the COIN Fight,” Landpower Essay No.    11-1, Association of the U.S. Army Institute of Land Warfare, August 2011
 “Hard Day’s Night: A Retrospective on the American Intervention in Somalia,” 
Joint Force Quarterly, Issue 54, 2009
“Beyond Vom Kriege: The Character and Conduct of Modern War,” Parameters, Summer 2005 
“Getting Transformation Right,” Joint Force Quarterly, Summer 2005
“The Impact of Transformation on the Army Professional Ethic” 
in The Future of the Army Profession II (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005)
“Soldiers of the State: Reconsidering American Civil-Military Relations”
 Parameters, Winter 2003 (Winner, AUSA Best Writing Award, 2003; Featured Article, U.S. Army Professional Writing Collection, 2003)
 "The Future of Conventional Deterrence," with Ricky L. Waddell,
Naval War College Review, Volume 45, Number 3, 1992) 
"Presidential Decision Making and Use of Force: Case Study Grenada,” 
Parameters, May 1991 (reprinted for academic use at the U.S. Army War College)
"NATO's Northern Flank: A Critique of the Maritime Strategy,” Parameters, June 1989
(Reprinted for academic use at the National War College 1989-1990)