Matthew Kroenig

Named one of the top 25 most-cited political scientists of his generation by a 2019 study in Perspectives on Politics, he is best known for his work in the Pentagon where he authored the first-ever U.S. government-wide strategy for deterring terrorism and developed strategic options for addressing Iran’s nuclear program. He is also widely recognized for his scholarly research on international security and nuclear weapons.

His contributions to America’s national security were featured in two chapters of the best-seller book Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against Al Qaeda authored by The New York Times’ reporters Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker.

Kroenig began his career as a military analyst in the Strategic Assessment Group at the Central Intelligence Agency. In this role, he analyzed international reactions to Iran’s nuclear program. In 2005, he worked as a strategist in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he was the principal author of the first ever U.S.-government-wide strategy for deterring terrorist networks (as referred in the book “Counterstrike”, chapters 2 and 11). He was recognized by the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Award for Outstanding Achievement for his work on elevating deterrence to a more central element of the U.S. counter-terrorism strategy.

He co-writes the bi-weekly column “It’s Debatable” for Foreign Policy.

His book “The Return of Great Power Rivalry” made Amazon’s best-sellers lists in a number of categories, including the #1 New Book in International Relations for two consecutive weeks just after publication date in late March 2020.

Kroenig also provides regular commentary on major media outlets, including The New York Times, CNN Politics. PBS Newshour, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, FOX News’ Special Report with Bret Baier, BBC World Service, NPR’s All Things Considered and C-SPAN.

Kroenig served as a foreign policy advisor on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, a senior national security advisor to Scott Walker, and as a senior advisor on Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign.

From 2011 to 2012, Kroenig was the Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He remains a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

From 2010 to 2011, Kroenig returned to the Pentagon on a non-partisan Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship to serve as a special advisor on Iran policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In that role, he developed strategic options to address Iran’s nuclear program. Upon leaving, he gained widespread attention for his writing on the viability of the U.S. military option for degrading Iran’s nuclear facilities, including in The New York Times and Foreign Affairs.

Matthew Kroenig (born 1977) is an American political scientist, best-selling author, and an award-winning national security strategist.

Kroenig was born in 1977 and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Oakville Senior High School in 1996. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in history summa cum laude from the University of Missouri in 2000, as well as a master of arts degree in 2003 and Ph.D. in political science in 2007 from the University of California, Berkeley. His Ph.D. dissertation was titled "The Enemy of my Enemy is my Customer: Why States Provide Sensitive Nuclear Assistance." He completed a predoctoral fellowship at Stanford University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University.