Experts

Spencer D. Bakich

Nonresident Senior Fellow
Bakich-CV.pdf

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

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 co-editor of The Sources of Great Power Competition: Rising Powers, Grand Strategy, and System Dynamics (Routledge, 2024) and the author of The Gulf War: George H. W. Bush and American Grand Strategy in the Post-Cold War Era (Kansas, 2024) and 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. 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.

Featured Publications

Great Power Competition
The Sources of Great Power Competition

Spencer D. Bakich (co-editor)

The Gulf War
The Gulf War

Spencer D. Bakich

Success and Failure in Limited War
Success and Failure in Limited War

Spencer D. Bakich

Spencer D. Bakich News Feed

podcast headline
The Gulf War: George H. W. Bush and American Grand Strategy in the Post-Cold War Era
Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Spencer D. Bakich, Professor of International Studies and Director of the National Security Program at the Virginia Military Institute, and Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, to discuss his new book, The Gulf War: George H. W. Bush and American Grand Strategy in the Post-Cold War Era. They chat about how Bush fashioned a grand strategy to bring about a New World Order designed to transform international politics by focusing on great power cooperation through the United Nations, how Bush’s strategic beliefs oriented American statecraft in peace and war, and how the war’s outcome exposed faulty assumptions about the international system that underpinned that strategy.
Spencer Bakich The Heartland Institute
scripps news
Comparing Biden and Trump on the global stage
The presidential election is poised to shape how the U.S. responds to significant global conflicts — from China to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have touted their own records and highlighted their stark differences.
Spencer Bakich Scripps News
scripps news headline
"I see what President Biden is doing as very skillfully pushing Israel, in the form of Prime Minister Netanyahu particularly, and Yahya Sinwar by moving forward and putting out publicly what is this Israeli proposal
On this episode of Scripps News Reports: Dealing with threats to America and the source of major flashpoints around the world, from Israel's conflict in Gaza to Russian aggression in Ukraine to the rise of China.
Spencer Bakich Scripps News
miller center headline
Colliding crises: The Israel–Hamas conflict, the war in Ukraine, and geopolitics
In this live webinar discussion convened by UVA’s Miller Center of Public Affairs, experts in history, political science, economics, law, and diplomacy from across the University of Virginia join veteran government practitioners to discuss the array of world crises now challenging American policymakers.
Aynne Kokas, Eric Edelman, Harry Harding, John Owen, Mara Rudman, Phil Potter, Spencer Bakich, Stephen Mull, Syaru Shirley Lin, William Antholis Miller Center Presents
Helsingin Sanomat Headline
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
News Channel 6
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