Christopher Preble is co-director of the New American Engagement Initiative in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. In this role, he leads a team of scholars who challenge prevailing assumptions surrounding US foreign policy. His own work focuses on the history of US foreign policy, contemporary US grand strategy and military force posture, alliance relations, and the intersection of trade and national security.

Preble is the author of four books, including Peace, War, and Liberty: Understanding U.S. Foreign Policy (Cato Institute, 2019); and The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free (Cornell University Press, 2009). His work has appeared in major publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, Survival, and Foreign Policy.

In addition to his work at the Atlantic Council, Preble co-hosts the “Net Assessment” podcast in the War on the Rocks network, and he teaches US foreign policy at the University of California, Washington Center. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Before joining the Atlantic Council, Preble was vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute from 2011 to 2020, and director of foreign policy studies from 2003 to 2011. He was a commissioned officer in the US Navy from 1989 to 1993. He holds degrees from George Washington University (BA, 1989) and Temple University (PhD, 2002), both in history.