Gen. John Allen Joins Brookings

Recently retired Marine General John Allen has joined the Brookings Institution as a distinguished fellow, The Cable has learned.

Allen, who until recently led coalition forces in Afghanistan, will join the think tank’s newly-launched Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence. 

"We are honored that General Allen has joined the Brookings ranks as a distinguished fellow," Brookings President Strobe Talbott said in a Monday statement. "He has served our country and the U.S. military with distinction for more than 35 years. We look forward to his contributions to public policy work at Brookings."

Allen, a four-star general, was nominated to be NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe in early 2013. He turned down the job after getting dragged into the probe surrounding former CIA Director David Petraeus‘ affair with biographer Paula Broadwell. Allen was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.

With his wife Kathy beside him, Allen recently gave a lengthy exit interview with ABC News about the challenges of leading the war effort during the investigation. Now Allen will get a chance to flex his intellectual chops and continue advocating for his preferred military policies.

And when it comes those preferred policies in Afghanistan, the general has made clear that he thinks there’s "no question" U.S. forces will be needed for a long time. "The international community will remain engaged. Our forces will continue to train the Afghan forces well after 2014," he said last month.

Allen’s already been getting cozy with his new Brookings colleagues. Last month, he published a report with Michael O’Hanlon, director of research at Brookings, and Michele Flournoy, former under secretary for defense for policy, on the road forward in Afghanistan. See his entire interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz here.