Matthew Kroenig Keynote Speaker

Vice President and Senior Director, the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
Professor of government and foreign service at Georgetown University
Expert on US national security strategy, China-Russia relations, strategic deterrence and nuclear weapons

Matthew Kroenig's Biography

Dr. Matthew Kroenig is a Professor in the Department of Government and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington D.C and Vice President and Senior Director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. He is a columnist at Foreign Policy and Henry Kissinger’s designated literary representative.

At the Council, he manages the Scowcroft Center’s bipartisan team of more than thirty resident staff and oversees the Council’s extensive network of non-resident fellows. Matthew’s own research focuses on US national security strategy, strategic competition with China and Russia, and strategic deterrence and weapons non-proliferation.

Kroenig previously served in the Department of Defense and the intelligence community during the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations. He received the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. He was a national security adviser on the presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney (2012) and Marco Rubio (2016).

A 2019 study in Perspectives on Politics ranked him as one of the top 25 most- cited political scientists of his generation. Dr. Kroenig is the author or editor of seven books, including We Win They Lose (2024); The Return of Great Power Rivalry (2020), and The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy (2018). His writing and commentary have appeared in every major media outlet.

He was a commissioner on the US Congress Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States and previously served in the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. He holds a PhD in political science from UC Berkeley. He held fellowships at Harvard University, Stanford University, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

He operates at the intersection of scholarship and strategy as a Georgetown professor and senior leader at the Atlantic Council, advising leaders on US national security, deterrence and great-power competition.
He brings frontline insight from senior roles across the Department of Defense and the intelligence community under three administrations, helping organisations understand how national security decisions are made and executed.
He translates strategic competition with China and Russia, nuclear deterrence and non-proliferation into clear frameworks that help executives and policymakers assess risk and make confident choices.
He shapes public debate as a Foreign Policy columnist and author of seven books on US strategy, equipping audiences to cut through headlines and focus on what matters most.
He combines policy experience with academic credibility, including service on the US Congress Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, to help leaders stress-test strategy under geopolitical pressure.