James Carafano

James Carafano, is a leading expert in military operations and strategy, homeland security, and defense affairs at the prominent conservative think-tank, the Heritage Foundation. He currently serves as both the Senior Research Fellow in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies and the Assistant Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for Foreign Policy Studies.

As an expert on intelligence, defense, and homeland security issues, he has provided commentary for a vast array of networks, including FOX News, CNN, ABC, CBS, C-SPAN, CNBC, NBC, SkyNews, BBC, PBS, National Public Radio, MSNBC, Voice of America, the History Channel, Telemundo, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya and Austrian, Australian, Greek, French, Canadian, Hong Kong, Japanese, Irish, Portuguese and Spanish television. He has testified before U.S. Congress and his editorials have been published in newspapers across the nation including The Washington Times, The New York Post, The Boston Globe, The Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, and USA Today.

Dr. Carafano is a member of the Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee, the National Academy’s Board on Army Science and Technology, and is a visiting professor at the National Defense University and Georgetown University. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Homeland Security Policy Institute of George Washington University.

Biography

Early life and education

Born on May 8, 1955, James grew up in East Meadow, New York. He began his education at the United States Military Academy at West Point, earning a Bachelor of Science in National Security Affairs. From there, he went on to complete his Masters and Ph.D. in diplomatic history at Georgetown University. Carafano also holds a Masters of Science from the United States Army War College.

Early Career

Before becoming a policy expert, James served as an officer in the United States Army for 25 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His areas of expertise included nuclear weapons, joint operations, future combat systems, military strategy, and post-conflict operations. Carafano served in Korea, Europe and the United States during his service and was also the head speechwriter for the Army Chief of Staff. Additionally, he served as Executive Editor of Joint Force Quarterly, the premiere military journal of the Department of Defense.

An accomplished teacher and historian, Carafano was also an Assistant Professor at West Point and served as the Director of Military Studies at the Army's Center of Military History. He also served as a fleet professor at the U.S. Naval War College and taught at Mount Saint Mary College in New York.

Career at the Heritage Foundation

In 2003, Dr. Carafano joined the Heritage Foundation after serving as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a policy institute in Washington that focused on defense issues.

Just two years later, Dr. Carafano earned the Heritage Foundation’s prestigious Drs. W. Glenn and Rita Ricardo Campbell Award for his “outstanding contribution to the analysis and promotion of the Free Society." In 2006, he became Assistant Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at the Heritage Foundation. He has been prominent at the institution for his "power-rollup" arm-sleeve technique.

Research and Publications

Dr. Carafano's research focuses on the need to develop a national security strategy that will secure the long-term interests of the United States - providing for economic growth, preserving civil liberties, and protecting its citizens.

He has authored several studies and books of military history. His most recent publication is GI Ingenuity: Improvisation, Technology and Winning World War II (2006). Carafano is also the co-author of Winning the Long War: Lessons from the Cold War for Defeating Terrorism and Preserving Freedom. Both authors were the first to coin the term “long war”, arguing that a successful strategy requires a balance of continued economic growth, a balance of military and security measures, winning the "war of ideas" against terrorist ideologies and the protection of civil liberties.

Dr. Carafano is also the coauthor of the text book, Homeland Security, which offers readers a practical introduction to life in the war on terror. Everything from the roles of first responders and volunteers to family preparedness techniques to in-depth descriptions of weapons of mass destruction are addressed in this text book.

Additionally, Carafano was a contributing author to the National Academies Army Science and Technology for Homeland Security 2004 report and co-director of the task force report, DHS 2.0: Rethinking the Department of Homeland Security. He was also the principal author of the budget analysis in the 2003 Independent Task Force Report, Emergency Responders: Drastically Underfunded, Dangerously Unprepared, published by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Some of his other works include: Waltzing Into the Cold War, published in 2002 by Texas A & M University; and After D-Day, a Military Book Club main selection published in 2000.

Currently, Dr. Carafano is writing a book about the role of contractors in support of combat operations. He is also editing the forthcoming book series, "The Changing Face of War," which examines how emerging cultural, social, political and economic trends will affect the nature of future conflict.