Anthony Cordesman
Anthony Huff Cordesman (born 2 August 1938) is an American strategic analyst at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) specialising in ‘defence’ and the Middle East. He regular appears as a commentator in the US media and is a national security analyst for ABC News.
Contents
Biography
Education
- BA, University of Chicago, 1960
- MA, Fletcher School, Medford, Massachusetts, 1961
- PhD, Hull University, London University, London, 1963[1]
Career
- Director of intelligence analysis, Department of Defense, Washington, 1971-73.
- Assistant to, Deputy Security of Defense, Washington, 1973 - 76.
- Director policy, planning, analysis, Department of Energy, Washington, 1976 - 80.
- President, Green Falcon, Ltd., Washington, 1980 - 83.
- Washington v.p., Eaton Analytical Assessments Corp., Arlington, Va., 1983 - 88.
- nat. security advisor to Sen. John McCain, Washington, 1988 - .
- Washington bureau chief Armed Forces, London, 1985-.
- associate professor Georgetown University, Washington, 1983-;[2]
Profile from CSIS
Anthony H. Cordesman holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at CSIS. He is also a national security analyst for ABC News. His analysis has been featured prominently during the Gulf War, Desert Fox, the conflict in Kosovo, the fighting in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War. During his time at CSIS, he has been director of the Gulf Net Assessment Project and the Gulf in Transition Study and principle investigator of the Homeland Defense Project. He also directed the Middle East Net Assessment Project and was codirector of the Strategic Energy Initiative. He has led studies on the Iraq War, Afghan conflict, armed nation building and counterinsurgency, national missile defense, asymmetric warfare and weapons of mass destruction, global energy supply, and critical infrastructure protection. He is the author of a wide range of reports on U.S. security policy, energy policy, and Middle East policy, which can be downloaded from the Burke Chair section of the CSIS Web site (www.csis.org/burke/). Cordesman formerly served as national security assistant to Senator John McCain of the Senate Armed Services Committee, as director of intelligence assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and as civilian assistant to the deputy secretary of defense. In 1974, he directed the analysis of the lessons of the October War for the secretary of defense, coordinating U.S. military, intelligence, and civilian analysis of the conflict. He has also served in other government positions, including at the Department of State, Department of Energy, and NATO International Staff. He has had numerous foreign assignments, including postings in Lebanon, Egypt, and Iran, and he has worked extensively in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf.[3]
Case studies
Cordesman first gained notoriety when he published a report for CSIS entitled Peace and War: Israel versus the Palestinians: A Second Intifada, which openly recommended the use of torture and repression against Palestinians.
Passages from Cordesman’s Iraqi Security Forces appeared to have been cut and pasted from an article by Michael Rubin from the Turkish Policy Quarterly. Rubin reviewed Iraqi Security Forces in the Middle Eastern Quarterly writing that: “Sloppiness with sources and citations is a problem. On page 3, for example, he reproduces practically verbatim and without citation several paragraphs of an article this reviewer published in 2005. Although Cordesman does not intentionally plagiarize, this incident does suggest inattention and an over-reliance on careless research assistants.”[4]
Books and monographs
- Chinese Military Modernization: Force Development and Strategic Capabilities, (with Martin Kleiber), CSIS, Washington, 2007
- Iraqi Force Development: Conditions for Success, Consequences of Failure, CSIS, Washington, 2007
- Lessons of the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah War, (with George Sullivan and William Sullivan) CSIS, Washington, 2007
- Gulf Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric Warfare, Volume I: Overview and Northern Gulf, (with Khalid R. Al-Rodhan) Praeger, Westport, 2007
- Gulf Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric Warfare, Volume II: GCC & Southern Gulf, (with Khalid R. Al-Rodhan)Praeger, Westport, 2007
- The Changing Dynamics of Energy in the Middle East, Volume I: Geopolitics and Geoeconomics of Middle East Energy, (with Khalid R. Al-Rodhan), Westport, 2006.
- The Changing Dynamics of Energy in the Middle East, Volume II: Developments by Subregion and Country, (with Khalid R. Al-Rodhan), Westport, 2006
- Arab-Israeli Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric Wars, Praeger, Westport, 2006.
- Iran’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (with Khalid R. Al-Rodhan), Washington, CSIS, 2006.
- The Global Oil Market: Risks and Uncertainties, (with Khalid R. Al-Rodhan), Washington, CSIS, 2005
- The Challenge of Biological Terrorism, Washington, CSIS, 2005
- The Israeli-Palestinian War; Escalating to Nowhere:, Washington, CSIS/Praeger, 2005
- National Security in Saudi Arabia, with Nawaf Obaid, Washington, CSIS/Praeger, 2005
- Iraqi Security Forces; A Strategy for Success, Washington, CSIS/Praeger, 2005
- Iran’s Developing Military Capabilities, Washington, CSIS, 2005
- The Military Balance in the Middle East, Washington, CSIS/Praeger, 2004
- Energy DevelopmentsIraqi Security Forces: A Strategy for Success in the Middle East, Washington, CSIS/Praeger, 2004
- The War After the War: Strategic Lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan, CSIS, Washington, June 2004.
- The Iraq War: Strategy, Tactics, and Military Lessons, Praeger/CSIS, Westport/Washington, October 2003.
- Saudi Arabia Enters the 21st Century: The Military Dimension, Praeger/Greenwood, Westport, June 2003
- Saudi Arabia Enters the 21st Century: Energy Politics, Economics, and Security in the Middle East, Praeger/Greenwood, Westport, June 2003
- The Lessons of Afghanistan, CSIS, Washington 2002
- Iraq’s Military Capabilities in 2002: A Dynamic Net Assessment, Washington, CSIS, September 2002.
- Strategic Threats and National Missile Defenses: Defending the US Homeland, Westport, Praeger, 2002
- A Tragedy of Arms: Military and Security Developments in the Maghreb, Westport, Praeger, 2001
- Peace and War: The Arab-Israeli Military Balance Enters the 21st Century, Westport, Praeger, 2001
- Terrorism, Asymmetric Warfare, and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Defending the US Homeland, Westport, Praeger, 2001
- Cyberthreats, Information Warfare, and Critical Infrastructure Protection: Defending the US Homeland, with Justin Cordesman, Westport, Praeger, 2001
- The Lessons and Non-Lessons of the Air and Missile Campaign in Kosovo, Westport, Praeger/Greenwood, 2000.
- Transnational Threats from the Middle East, US Army War College, Carlyle, 1999
- Iraq and the War of the Sanctions: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Praeger, New York, 1999.
- Iran in Transition: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Praeger, New York, 1999
- Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE: Challenges of Security, Westview, Boulder, 1997
- Kuwait: Recovery and Security After the Gulf War, Westview, Boulder, 1997
- Saudi Arabia: Guarding the Desert Kingdom, Westview, Boulder, 1997
- US Forces in the Middle East: Resources and Capabilities, Westview, Boulder, 1997
- Iran: Dilemmas of Dual Containment, with Ahmed Hashim, Westview, Boulder, 1997
- Iraq: Sanctions and Beyond, with Ahmed Hashim, Westview, Boulder, 1997
- Perilous Prospects: The Peace Process and Arab-Israeli Balance, Westview, Boulder, 1996
- The Lessons of Modern War: Volume Four - The Gulf War, with Abraham R. Wagner, Westview, Boulder, 1995
- Iran and Iraq: The Threat from the Northern Gulf, Westview, Boulder, 1994
- US Defense Policy: Resources and Capabilities, London, RUSI Whitehall Series, 1993
- After the Storm: The Changing Military Balance in the Middle East, Boulder, Westview, 1993
- Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East, Brassey’s, London, 1991
- The Lessons of Modern War: Volume One - The Arab-Israeli Conflicts, with Abraham R. Wagner, Westview, Boulder, 1990.
- The Lessons of Modern War: Volume Two - The Iran-Iraq Conflict, with Abraham R. Wagner, Westview, Boulder, 1990.
- The Lessons of Modern War: Volume Three - The Afghan and Falklands Conflicts, with Abraham R. Wagner, Westview, Boulder, 1990.
- The Gulf and the West, Boulder, Westview, 1988
- NATO Central Region Forces, RUSI/Jane’s, London, 1987
- The Iran-Iraq War and Western Security, 1984-1987, RUSI/Jane’s, London, 1987
- The Arab-Israeli Balance and the Art of Operations, American Enterprise Institute (AEI)/ University Press of America, Washington, D.C., 1986
- Western Strategic Interests and Saudi Arabia, Croom Helm, London, 1986
- The Gulf and the Search for Strategic Stability, Westview, Boulder, 1984
- Jordanian Arms and the Middle East Balance, Middle East Institute, Washington, 1983
- Deterrence in the 1980s, Extended Adelphi Paper, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, 1982
- Imbalance of Power, Shifting U.S.-Soviet Military Strengths, with John M. Collins, Presidio, Monterey, 1978
Affiliations
Organisations
- Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy
- Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, member
- International Institute for Strategic Studies, member
- Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
- Georgetown University, former adjunct professor of national security studies
Contact information
- Tel: (202) 775-7325
- Email: amausner@csis.org
References
- ↑ Who's Who in Finance and Industry, 25th Edition, accessed via Lexis Nexis
- ↑ Who's Who in Finance and Industry, 25th Edition, accessed via Lexis Nexis
- ↑ Center for Strategic & International Studies, CSIS Profile
- ↑ Michael Rubin, ‘Iraqi Security Forces: A Strategy for Success’ Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2008