home > the cfr think tank > experts > stephen biddle
Senior Fellow for Defense Policy
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-202-509-8476
E-mail: sbiddle@cfr.org
Location:
Washington, DC
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo (JPG, 288K)
One-page bio (PDF, 61K)
CV (PDF, 78K)
Video clip (MP4, 1.7 MB)
Award-winning author of Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle. Former associate professor and Elihu Root chair of military studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. Current work examines U.S. defense policy and strategy.
Expertise:U.S. national security policy; military strategy and the conduct of war; technology in modern warfare; recent operations in the war on terror.
Experience:Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies, U.S. Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute (2006); Associate Professor of National Security Studies, U.S. Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute (2001-2005); Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1998-2002); research staff member, Institute for Defense Analyses (1987-97).
Honors:Arthur Ross Book Award Silver Medal, Council on Foreign Relations (2005); Huntington Prize, Harvard University (2005); Koopman Prize, Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (2005); Madigan Award, Army War College Foundation (2005); U.S. Army Superior Civilian Service Medal (2003); Rist Prize, Military Operations Research Society (2000); Impact Prize, Military Operations Research Society (1999); Barchi Prize, Military Operations Research Society (1997).
Selected Publications:"The 2006 Lebanon Campaign and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy," Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College (September 2008); “Seeing Baghdad, Thinking Saigon: The Perils of Refighting Vietnam in Iraq,” Foreign Affairs (March/April 2006); “Allies, Air Power, and Modern Warfare,”International Security (Winter 2005-2006); Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle (Princeton University Press, 2004); “Democracy and Military Effectiveness: A Deeper Look,” Journal of Conflict Resolution (August 2004); “Afghanistan and the Future of Warfare,” Foreign Affairs (March/April 2003); “Victory Misunderstood: What the Gulf War Tells Us About the Future of Conflict,” International Security (Fall 1996); “Technology, Civil-Military Relations, and Warfare in the Developing World,” Journal of Strategic Studies (June 1996).
Related Links:
Council Senior Fellow Stephen Biddle’s Military Power Awarded Prize for Best Book on National Security Studies
Current Research Projects
November 24, 2008
Audio
Listen to Council on Foreign Relations experts Stephen Biddle and Daniel Markey discuss a recent week-long visit they took to Afghanistan on invitation from top U.S. military commander Gen. David McKiernan.
See more in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Defense/Homeland Security
November 24, 2008
Transcript
A Council on Foreign Relations conference call with CFR senior fellows Stephen Biddle and Daniel Markey after their recent return from a trip to Afghanistan.
See more in Afghanistan, National Security and Defense
September 25, 2008
Must Read
This monograph assesses the claim that future warfare is a matter of nonstate actors employing irregular methods against Western states through a detailed analysis of Hezbollah’s military behavior, coupled with deductive inference from observable Hezbollah behavior in the field to findings for their larger strategic intent for the campaign.
See more in Lebanon, International Peace and Security
September 22, 2008
Audio
Listen to CFR fellows discuss topics such as U.S. relations with Asia, Russia, and Europe, as well as the financial crisis, nuclear terrorism, and climate change, as they relate to the presidential foreign policy debate.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
September 22, 2008
Transcript
Perspective on the Presidential Foreign Policy Debate.
See more in United States, Congress, Foreign Policy History, Public Diplomacy
September 18, 2008
Audio
Listen to Stephen Biddle, senior fellow for defense policy at CFR, discuss his recent Foreign Affairs article, "How to Leave a Stable Iraq," with students as part of the CFR Academic Conference Call Series.
See more in Iraq, Defense Strategy, Democracy Promotion
September 8, 2008
Transcript
A discussion of how to proceed in Iraq, and what the following steps within that country should be.
See more in Iraq, Democracy and Human Rights, Economics, Society and Culture, U.S. Strategy and Politics
September 8, 2008
Video
With violence down and U.S. troop deaths at their lowest point since the Iraq war began, military analysts are in near-agreement that Iraq is more secure today. But CFR's Stephen Biddle and Steven Simon disagree on how to ensure stability continues. They discuss their views during this inaugural Foreign Affairs Live debate.
See more in Iraq, Defense Strategy, U.S. Strategy and Politics
September 8, 2008
Audio
With violence down and U.S. troop deaths at their lowest point since the Iraq war began, military analysts are in near-agreement that Iraq is more secure today. But CFR's Stephen Biddle and Steven Simon disagree on how to ensure stability continues. They discuss their views during this inaugural Foreign Affairs Live debate.
See more in Iraq, National Security and Defense, Conflict Assessment
September/October 2008
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
The situation in Iraq is improving. With the right strategy, the United States will eventually be able to draw down troops without sacrificing stability.
See more in Iraq, Civil Reconstruction
September/October 2008
Podcast
From the September/October 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs: The next U.S. president will face problems that will require strength and a renewed sense of national purpose to solve.
See more in Iraq, Civil Reconstruction
September/October 2008
Podcast
This audio includes readings of selected articles from the September/October 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs.
See more in United States
August 5, 2008
Op-Ed
New York Times
“Having recently returned from a research trip to Iraq, we are convinced that a total withdrawal of combat troops any time soon would be unwise,” write Stephen Biddle, Michael E. O’Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack. Although recent success in Iraq has prompted more calls for withdrawal, a continued American presence is needed to preserve the fragile peace in that country.
See more in Iraq, Conflict Assessment
June 12, 2008
Audio
Listen to CFR fellows Stephen Biddle and Vali Nasr discuss their recent trip to Iraq.
See more in Iraq
June 12, 2008
Transcript
Vali Nasr and Stephen Biddle, Senior Fellows at the Council on Foreign Relations, discuss the political climate and the status of security forces in Iraq following their recent visits to the region.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Democracy and Human Rights, Nation Building
June 10, 2008
Interview
diyaCFR military expert Stephen Biddle sees improvements in Iraqi security forces but worries about an erosion in stability if the U.S. military presence is sharply reduced.
See more in Iraq, Defense/Homeland Security, International Peace and Security, Peacekeeping, Peacemaking
April 2, 2008
Testimony
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Peacekeeping
March 19, 2008
Audio
Listen to Stephen Biddle, CFR senior fellow for defense policy, provide an update on the current situation in Iraq and examine the political and military implications of U.S. policy options going forward as part of CFR's State and Local Officials Conference Call Series.
This call was made possible in part by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
See more in Iraq
March 6, 2008
Op-Ed
National Interest
Iraq's prognosis is better today than it has been for a long time, argues Stephen Biddle.
See more in United States, Iraq
January 28, 2008
News Briefing
CFR experts offer their analysis of President George W. Bush's final State of the Union address.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency
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America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Gary Samore
Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9627
gsamore@cfr.org
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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