Dr. Nora Bensahel is a Visiting Professor of Strategic Studies and Senior Fellow of the Merrill Center at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a Contributing Editor and Columnist for War on the Rocks.  She is a renowned expert on U.S. defense policy, military operations, and the future of warfare, and is the co-author of Adaptation Under Fire: How Militaries Change in Wartime.  She was previously a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the School of International Service at American University; a senior fellow and co-director of the Responsible Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security; and a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation.  Dr. Bensahel holds a Ph.D in Political Science from Stanford University, and currently serves on the Executive Board of the Leadership Council for Women in National Security.