Michael J. Mazarr is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Previously he was professor and associate dean of academics at the US National War College; president of the Henry L. Stimson Center; senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; senior defense aide on Capitol Hill; and a special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His primary interests are US defense policy and force structure, East Asian security, nuclear weapons and deterrence, and judgment and decision-making under uncertainty. He holds a PhD in public policy from the University of Maryland.