Director of Studies and Deputy Director of Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security will bring expertise in nuclear strategy and policy to high-level commission
WASHINGTON, DC – May 17, 2022 – The Atlantic Council today welcomed the appointment of Dr. Matthew Kroenig as a Commissioner on the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. Dr. Kroenig, who will continue in his roles as the Council’s Director of Studies and the Deputy Director of the Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, is recognized globally as a leading expert in nuclear strategy and policy.
The bipartisan, twelve-member Commission is tasked with delivering a report by the end of this year with recommendations for “the most appropriate strategic posture and most effective nuclear weapons strategy” for the United States.
“New technologies and evolving geopolitical challenges are putting strategic deterrence under its greatest strain in decades,” said Barry Pavel, senior vice president at the Atlantic Council and director of the Scowcroft Center. “This Commission will serve an essential purpose in charting a bipartisan path forward for strategic forces policy, a key goal of the Scowcroft Center as we honor the legacy of our namesake, the late General Brent Scowcroft, who chaired an eponymous commission in 1983 that paved the way for US strategic forces policy for decades.”
Dr. Kroenig has served in several positions in the US Department of Defense and the intelligence community in the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations. From 2017-2021, he was a Special Government Employee (SGE) and Senior Policy Adviser in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capability/Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy. He was a national security adviser on the presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney (2012) and Marco Rubio (2016).
Dr. Kroenig is also a tenured professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University. He is the author or editor of seven books, including The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy: Why Strategic Superiority Matters (Oxford University Press, 2018). Dr. Kroenig co-authors the bi-weekly “It’s Debatable” column at Foreign Policy. He holds an MA and PhD in political science from the University of California at Berkeley.
In assuming his new position, Kroenig said, “The security environment has deteriorated significantly since 2009 (the last time a congressional commission issued a report assessing these issues), making it necessary for this Commission to take a fresh look at an appropriate strategic forces policy for the United States. I am honored to serve alongside a distinguished group of national security leaders to take on this important challenge.”
The Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security works to develop sustainable, nonpartisan strategies to address the most important security challenges facing the United States and the world. The Center honors General Brent Scowcroft’s legacy of service and embodies his ethos of nonpartisan commitment to the cause of security, support for US leadership in cooperation with allies and partners, and dedication to the mentorship of the next generation of leaders. Our namesake, General Scowcroft, was the chairman of the 1983 Scowcroft Commission that established the bipartisan basis for US nuclear deterrence and arms control to this day. As the United States enters a new era of strategic challenges, the Scowcroft Center is proud to play a central role in crafting an effective and nonpartisan strategic forces policy for the twenty-first century.
For any questions or to request an interview with Dr. Kroenig, please contact us at press@AtlanticCouncil.org.
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