National security in the long shadow of 9/11

Peter Berkowitz is a James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center and the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is also a columnist for Real Clear Politics and director of studies for The Public Interest Fellowship. From 2019 to 2021, he served as the director of the State Department’s policy planning staff, executive secretary of the department's Commission on Unalienable Rights, and senior adviser to the secretary of state during the first Trump administration. Berkowitz’s many books include Reclaiming Liberal Education in America and Explaining Israel: The Jewish State, the Middle East, and America. He holds a JD and a PhD in political science from Yale University; an MA in philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and a BA in English literature from Swarthmore College.

Eric Edelman, a Miller Center practitioner senior fellow, retired as a career minister from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2009 after having served in senior positions at the Departments of State and Defense as well as the White House. As the undersecretary of defense for policy (2005–2009), he oversaw strategy development as the Defense Department’s senior policy official with global responsibility for bilateral defense relations, war plans, special operations forces, homeland defense, missile defense, nuclear weapons and arms control policies, counter-proliferation, counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, arms sales, and defense trade controls. Edelman served as U.S. ambassador to the Republics of Finland and Turkey in the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations and was principal deputy assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney for national security affairs.

Mara Rudman is a practitioner senior fellow at the Miller Center, where she formerly directed the Ripples of Hope Project aimed at identifying practical approaches to help democratic leaders resolve key challenges. She was previously a Miller Center Schlesinger Distinguished Professor and served on the 2022 National Defense Strategy Commission. She is on the Howard University College of Arts and Sciences board of advisors and consults for Democracy Forward. She was executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress, and her government positions have included serving as deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs in the Obama and Clinton administrations; deputy envoy for the Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace at the U.S. Department of State; assistant administrator for the Middle East at the U.S. Agency for International Development; and chief counsel to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. She received an AB from Dartmouth College and a JD from Harvard Law School.

David Gregory has a distinguished career in journalism spanning more than three decades and is an ex officio member of the Miller Center's Governing Council. He spent more than 20 years with NBC News, serving as the moderator of Meet the Press and as the chief White House correspondent during George W. Bush’s presidency. He also worked as a political analyst for CNN. Gregory has covered the major news events of his time, from the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath to the Trump presidency. He has taught courses at Tufts University and Georgetown University about the changing media landscape and its impact on knowledge and citizenship and is also the author of How’s Your Faith? He holds a BA from American University’s School of International Service.