About Dr Waller

J. Michael Waller is a scholar-practitioner in strategic communication and unconventional conflict.

Presently he is President of Georgetown Research, a political risk and private intelligence company in Washington, D.C.; and is Senior Analyst for Strategy at the Center for Security Policy. He was founding editorial board member of NATO’s peer reviewed Defence Strategic Communications journal (2015-2018).

Dr. Waller holds a Ph.D. in international security affairs from Boston University. He received his military training as an insurgent with the Nicaraguan Democratic Force (contras). For 13 years he was the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Professor of International Communication at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., where he designed and taught the world’s only graduate program on public diplomacy and political warfare.

He is author or editor of books relating to intelligence, political warfare, public diplomacy, terrorism, and subversion. His latest book is Big Intel: How the CIA and FBI went from Cold War Heroes to Deep State Villains (Regnery 2024). See his page on Academia.edu.

He has written for American Greatness, The American Mind, The Daily Beast, Daily Caller, The Federalist, Forbes, Insight, Investor’s Business Daily, Kyiv Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post and New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Real Clear Politics, USA Today, the Washington Examiner, the Washington Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

Curriculum vitae

Summary of Experience and Skills

  • More than 30 years’ experience in defense, national security, and foreign policy development and execution outside the federal government.
  • Entrepreneurial scholar-practitioner, with Ph.D. and real-world practice in defense, security, and foreign policy for private and government clients and sponsors.
  • National security graduate school professor for 13 years.
  • Instructor for military, diplomatic, intelligence, and counterintelligence professionals.
  • Specialist in propaganda, political warfare, psychological strategy, subversion, strategic communication.
  • Hands-on work with insurgencies and counterinsurgency efforts.
  • Involvement at all levels with planning and execution of political and psychological warfare campaigns against oppressive regimes and movements, and in support of nationalist self-determination movements.
  • Designer of political and psychological campaigns for reputation management and litigation support.
  • Established writer on defense, national security and foreign affairs for policy, scholarly, professional, and general publications.
  • Published in Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Reader’s Digest, USA Today, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal and elsewhere.
  • Founding editorial board member of NATO’s Defence Strategic Communication scholarly journal and a peer-reviewed university journal.
  • Experienced public speaker at conferences, panels, seminars, and debates.
  • Electronic media experience as guest on hundreds of radio and television shows.
  • Architect of issues-based social media campaigns.
  • Manager of scholarly and policy-related research and writing teams.
  • Experienced at project and concept development, team recruitment, research and editorial policy and procedure, publicity and public affairs, business plans, budgets and fundraising support, donor relations.

  

Present

  • President, Georgetown Research, Washington, DC.
  • Senior Analyst for Strategy, Center for Security Policy, Washington, DC.
  • Advisory Board Member, Niccolo Machiavelli Institute, Rome, Italy.

Media

Authored more than 200 policy-related articles, journalistic articles, reviews and op-eds since 1983, including Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, the New York Times, Reader’s Digest, the Washington Times, Insight magazine (former senior staff writer), USA Today and the Wall Street Journal; plus the Daily Beast, Daily Caller, and Real Clear Politics. Ghost wrote articles for New York Times and other newspapers. Click here for partial listing.

Guest commentator on ABC, Alhurra Middle East News Network, BBC radio and TV, BBC World Service in Spanish, CBC, CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, CBS, C-SPAN, DMC Egypt, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, NPR, PBS, Voice of America, and other channels. Hosted 16 episodes of MSNBC’s “War Room” program after 9/11.

Scholarly peer reviewed journals

Editorial board member since 1992 of Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization, first published in cooperation with the American University and Moscow State University, and presently with the George Washington University.

Founding editorial board member, 2015-18, of Defence Strategic Communications, published by NATO’s Centre of Excellence for Strategic Communication in Riga, Latvia.

Education

  • Ph.D., International Security Affairs, Boston University, 1993. GPA: 3.95.
  • M.A., International Relations and Communication, Boston University, 1989. GPA: 3.96.
    • John Silber Presidential Scholar.
    • John M. Olin Fellow, Center for Defense Journalism.
    • Master’s thesis committee: Professors Lawrence Martin-Bittman (Ladislav Bittman), H. Joachim Maitre, Bernard Rubin.
  • B.A., International Affairs, George Washington University, 1985. GPA: 3.70.
    • Phi Beta Kappa.

Honors

University Professors Distinguished Alumni Award, Boston University, 2004.

Leonore and Walter Annenberg Chair, International Communications, Institute of World Politics, 2002-2013.

Dr. Waller holds the British hereditary title of 10th Baronet of Newport, Tipperary. As an American citizen he does not use the title.