David Barno is a Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He completed a thirty-year military career in the U.S. Army, where he commanded at every level in infantry and special operations units, culminating as the overall commander of all U.S. and coalition military forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005. Following his military career, Lt. Gen. Barno served as the Director of the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, and later as a Senior Fellow and Co-Director of the Responsible Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security. He is a co-author with Dr. Nora Bensahel of the 2020 book Adaptation Under Fire, which analyzes how militaries change in wartime. Since 2015, they have also co-authored over 85 “Strategic Outpost” columns at War on the Rocks. He is a graduate of West Point and holds a master’s degree in national security studies from Georgetown University.