Sean McFate

Dr. Sean McFate is an author, strategist, and foreign policy expert. He is a Professor of International Relations at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, and the National Defense University in Washington DC. He was recently a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and an Advisor to Oxford University’s Centre for Technology and Global Affairs. 

His career began as a paratrooper and officer in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, after which he became a private military contractor. In the world of international business, he was a Vice President at TD International, a program manager at DynCorp International, a consultant at BearingPoint (now part of Deloitte Consulting), and an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton. He still advises the U.S. defense and intelligence communities, the United Nations, and Hollywood.

He is the author of The New Rules of War: How America Can Win—Against Russia, China, and Other Threats (Morrow, 2019), which was published in the UK as Goliath: Why the West Isn’t Winning. And What We Must Do About It (Penguin, 2020), and of The Modern Mercenary: Private Armies and What They Mean for World Order (OUP, 2015).

He is also a successful novelist and video game designer. The Tom Locke trilogy is based on his military experiences. He was a technical advisor to Madfinger Games, the creator of Gray Zone Warfare, which sold one million copies in its first month. He has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Atlantic, New Republic, Foreign Policy, Politico, Daily Beast, Vice Magazine, War on the Rocks, Military Review, and African Affairs. ‍

Dr McFate holds a BA from Brown University, a MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a Ph.D. in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He was also a Research Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford.