Spencer D. Bakich

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Fast Facts

Director of the National Security Program, Virginia Military Institute
Recipient, 2023 SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award
Expertise on wartime diplomacy and strategy, coercive diplomacy, American grand strategy, cybersecurity

Areas Of Expertise

Foreign Affairs
American Defense and Security
War and Terrorism
Governance
The Presidency

Spencer D. Bakich is a professor of international studies and the director of the National Security Program at the Virginia Military Institute. He is the author of Success and Failure in Limited War: Information and Strategy in the Korean, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, and Iraq Wars (Chicago, 2014), as well as articles, book chapters, and essays on wartime diplomacy and strategy, coercive diplomacy, American grand strategy, and cybersecurity.

Using transcripts from the Miller Center’s Presidential Oral History Program, Bakich contributed chapters to 42: Inside the Presidency of Bill Clinton and the forthcoming 43: Inside the Presidency of George W. Bush. His current book-length project examines the relationship between President George H. W. Bush's decision for war in the Persian Gulf and his grand strategic designs for a post-Cold War international order. His commentary has been featured in The National Interest, USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Strategy Bridge.

Bakich earned a BA in international affairs and economics from James Madison University (magna cum laude) and an MA and PhD in politics at the University of Virginia. He is the recipient of a 2023 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Spencer D. Bakich News Feed

The calculating defender of democracy

Spencer Bakich of the Miller Center at the University of Virginia points out that Biden is not a "crusader for democracy" like, for example, George W. Bush was. Instead of trying to "spread" democracy to new countries, Biden is trying to maintain relations with already existing democratic states.

Spencer Bakich Helsingin Sanomat

MSU Texas speaker series presents Spencer D. Bakich

The Speakers & Issues Series at Midwestern State University presented international studies expert and military strategist Spencer D. Bakich. Bakich talked at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU Texas at 7 p.m. on March 21. His topic was “Counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan: Strategy and History.”

Spencer Bakich News Channel 6

Biden visits Ukraine

Senior Fellow Spencer Bakich is interviewed about President Biden's visit to Ukraine.

Spencer Bakich iHeart Radio

Who runs the world?

Spencer Bakich, nonresident senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, says that the two nuclear powers’ greatest military threat lies in the small, technological giant: Taiwan.

Spencer D. Bakich With Good Reason

'Undaunted': A former CIA director’s fight against America’s enemies

Spencer Bakich, nonresident senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, moderates a conversation with former CIA director John Brennan about his brutally honest memoir 'Undaunted'.

Spencer D. Bakich Miller Center Presents

‘The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War’

Drawing extensively from the Miller Center's presidential oral histories, Craig Whitlock's new book, The Afghanistan Papers, tells the story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year after year about America’s longest war, foreshadowing the Taliban’s recapture of Afghanistan. The author discusses his book with Miller Center senior fellow Spencer Bakich, an expert in U.S. national security policy.