Dr. Colin Kahl is the Steven C. Házy Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. From April 2021-July 2023, he served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the U.S. Department of Defense. During the Obama Administration, Dr. Kahl served as Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President from October 2014 to January 2017, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East from February 2009 to December 2011. He previously taught at Georgetown University and the University of Minnesota. Dr. Kahl received his B.A. in political science from the University of Michigan (1993) and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University (2000). Follow Dr. Kahl on X at @ColinKahl.