James Russell is an associate professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. At NPS he teaches courses focusing on military innovation, strategic theory, U.S. defense strategy and policy, and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Before arriving at NPS in 2001, he worked for 15 years in the Defense Department, first in the Defense Security Assistance Agency and then in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Near East South Asia, where he focused upon US strategy and policy in the Persian Gulf. Prior to this, he worked as a reporter at Defense Week and as assistant editor at the Marine Corps Gazette. He holds a PhD in War Studies from King's College, the University of London (2009) and a Masters in Public and International Affairs from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of PIttburgh (1983). The views expressed here are his own.