Shadow Government

A front-row seat to the Republicans' debate over foreign policy, including their critique of the Biden administration.

Welcome to Tom Mahnken and Mark Lagon

By Christian Brose I’m pleased to say that our stable of bloggers is growing a little more over here with the addition of two first class gentlemen. The first is Tom Mahnken, who is currently a visiting scholar at the Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins University SAIS. Before that, he was the deputy ...

By Christian Brose

By Christian Brose

I’m pleased to say that our stable of bloggers is growing a little more over here with the addition of two first class gentlemen.

The first is Tom Mahnken, who is currently a visiting scholar at the Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins University SAIS. Before that, he was the deputy assistant secretary of defense for policy planning. In that role, Tom advised the secretary of defense and the Pentagon’s senior leadership on all manner of strategic issues, from contingency planning to the Quadrennial Defense Review. Tom has also written some stellar books on strategic studies, intelligence, and the U.S. military, most recently Technology and the American Way of War Since 1945. He is the editor of The Journal of Strategic Studies.

Second is Mark Lagon, who is Executive Director of Polaris Project, a leading anti-human-trafficking nonprofit. Before that he was Ambassador-at-Large and Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. From 2004 to 2007, Mark served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs. He was responsible for U.S. human rights, humanitarian, and reform policy at the United Nations. Mark worked on similar issues as a member of Colin Powell’s policy planning staff and as a senior staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is the author of The Reagan Doctrine: Sources of American Conduct in the Cold War’s Last Chapter.  

Both Mark and Tom are seriously versatile policy athletes, and they will add even more depth and expertise to our discussion of U.S. foreign and defense policy around these parts. I know you will enjoy reading their work as much as Ido.

Christian Brose is a senior editor at Foreign Policy. He served as chief speechwriter and policy advisor for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from 2005 to 2008, and as speechwriter for former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2004 to 2005.

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.