Gary James Schmitt (born 1952) is an American political scientist who is a senior fellow at the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...

Early life and education

Schmitt graduated from the

University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a private Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises four academic units: the Braniff Graduate School ...

in 1974 with a B.A. in Politics and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

in 1980 with a Ph.D. in Political Science.

Career

From 1977-79, Schmitt held a research faculty position at the White Burkett Miller Center,

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. In the early 1980s, Schmitt worked as a member of the professional staff of the

Senate Select Committee on Intelligence The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...

and, from 1982 to 1984, served as the committee's minority staff director. From 1984 to 1988 he held the post of executive director of President Reagan's

Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board The President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) is an advisory body to the Executive Office of the President of the United States. According to its self-description, it "provides advice to the President concerning the quality and adequacy of ...

. Since then, he has held visiting fellowships at the

National Interest The national interest is a sovereign state's goals and ambitions (economic, military, cultural, or otherwise), taken to be the aim of government. Etymology The Italian phrase ''ragione degli stati'' was first used by Giovanni della Casa around ...

, a foreign policy journal, and the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

, served as Coordinator for the Consortium for the Study of Intelligence's Working Group on Intelligence Reform, and worked as a consultant to the Department of Defense. In addition, he has been an adjunct professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies,

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. Schmitt helped found and direct the

Project for the New American Century The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservativeneoconservative Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and count ...

organization formed in 1997 to promote a forward-leaning American national security agenda. The organization supported

NATO expansion NATO is a military alliance of Member states of NATO, twenty-eight European and two North American countries that constitutes a system of collective defense. The process of joining the alliance is governed by Article 10 of the North Atlantic ...

, democracy promotion, and the decision to go to

war in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, while at the same time criticizing how those wars were waged. PNAC also advocated for enhanced support for

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

by the US and its allies, while also being critical of successive administrations' policies towards the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. At AEI since 2005, he has been director of the Program on Advanced Strategic Studies, director of the American Citizenship Program and co-director of the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies. He is currently a fellow in AEI’s Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies Program.

Books

* ''McCulloch v. Maryland at 200: Debating John Marshall’s Jurisprudence'' (AEI Press: 2020) * ''A Hard Look at Hard Power: Assessing the Defense Capabilities of Key US Allies and Security Partners'', (US Army War College Press: 2020) * ''Rise of the Revisionists: Russia, China, and Iran'' (AEI Press: 2018) * ''The Imperial Presidency and the Constitution'' (Rowman & Littlefield: 2017) * ''Is Congress Broken? The Virtues and Defects of Partisanship and Gridlock'' (Brookings Institution Press: 2017) * ''The Professions and Civic Life”'' (Lexington Books: 2016) * ''Trendsetting Charter Schools: Raising the Bar for Civic Education'' (Rowman & Littlefield: 2015). * ''Safety, Liberty and Islamist Terrorism: American and European Approaches to Domestic Counterterrorism'' (AEI Press: 2010) * ''The Rise of China: Essays on the Future Competition'' (Encounter Books: May 2009) * ''Of Men and Materiel: The Crisis in Military Resources'' (AEI Press: 2007), * ''Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence'' (Brassey's: 2002), coauthored with Abram N. Shulsky * ''U.S. Intelligence at the Crossroads: Agendas for Reform'' (Brassey's: 1995)

References

External links

Gary Schmitt's official profile on the American Enterprise Institute website.

Gary Schmitt's profile of The New Citizenship Project.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitt, Gary American Enterprise Institute Johns Hopkins University faculty Living people United States Department of Defense officials University of Chicago alumni University of Dallas alumni 1952 births