Josh Kirshner is a nonresident senior fellow at the GeoStrategy Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He is a national security consultant, assisting firms ranging from the United States’ largest companies to Silicon Valley start-ups. He focuses on international defense, geopolitics, and emerging technologies.

Previously he was special assistant to the under secretary of state for arms control and international security, serving as her principal advisor on defense issues and the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Kirshner was a driving force behind two of the department’s emerging technology efforts, writing the nation’s first unmanned systems export policy and establishing the Secretary of State’s Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues.

Earlier in his career at the State Department, Kirshner was part of the teams responsible for the elimination of Libya’s nuclear weapons program and shutting down nuclear procurement networks worldwide.

As a professional staff member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 2007 to 2009, Kirshner focused on human intelligence, covert action, and the Near East and South Asia. In addition, he was responsible for oversight of the intelligence activities of the Departments of State, Treasury, and Energy, including the National Labs.

Kirschner also served as part of Hillary Clinton’s national security team when she was a senator, supporting her efforts on the Senate Armed Services Committee, as well as on foreign policy and trade.

Kirshner graduated from Yale University with an MA in international affairs, including coursework in the law and business schools. He graduated from Binghamton University, cum laude, with a BA in political science.