Mara Karlin

MARA KARLIN is Associate Professor and Director of Strategic Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. As U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities from 2021 to 2023, she helped write and implement the 2022 National Defense Strategy. She previously served at the Defense Department during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development. She is the author of Building Militaries in Fragile States: Challenges for the United States and The Inheritance: America’s Military After Two Decades of War.