Colonel Susan Bryant is a 1989 graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Foreign Service and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps. Prior to her selection as a Senior Military Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, she served on the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Strategic Studies Group. Prior to that, COL Bryant was Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans, Programs and Assessments for the United States Security Coordinator for Israel and Palestine, stationed in Jerusalem. From 2011 to 2013, she served in the Pentagon as the Division Chief for the Strategy, Concepts and Doctrine Division on the Army Staff. Her past assignments include three years on faculty as a professor of military strategy at National Defense University and three years on faculty as an assistant professor of International Relations in Department of Social Sciences at West Point. Her assignments as a strategist include a year as a Special Assistant and Speechwriter to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs; Chief of the Commanding General’s Initiatives Group, Combined Forces Command–Afghanistan; Chief of Key Leader Engagement for the International Security Assistance Force Commander, Afghanistan; and Strategic Fellow for the Joint Staff, J5.

Colonel Bryant’s education also includes a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Yale University, a Master’s Degree in Operational Planning from Marine Corps University’s School of Advanced Warfighting and a Doctorate in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University. She is also former Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow, as well as a Columbia University Next Generation Fellow. She serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and also at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. She is the author of multiple publications including Jus Post Bellum and The Pottery Barn Rule: Obligations of the Victor in Wars of Choice (2012), Reweaving the Gordian Knot: Developing a Comprehensive Strategy for the United States in Afghanistan (2008) and Keeping the Calm: Future Roles for the U.S. Military on the Korean Peninsula (2001). Her awards include the Department of State’s Superior Honor Award for helping to formulate the DOS response to the 9/11 attacks, The Department of Defense Superior Service Medal and the U.S. Army Legion of Merit Medal (two awards). Her early assignments in the Army were as a multifunctional logistician having served two tours on the Korean Peninsula and an assignment as the maintenance officer for the Opposing Forces Brigade, Fort Irwin, California.