Stacie Pettyjohn

Stacie L. Pettyjohn is an American political scientist and academic. She is the Senior Fellow and Director of the Defense Program at the Center for New American Security (CNAS). She is also an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). She has published numerous reports which have appeared in Defense News, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Washington Post among others.

Education and career

Pettyjohn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and political science from the Ohio State University. She also received a Ph.D. and an M.A. in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.

She worked as an associate political scientist at RAND Corporation until 2014, when she became co-director of the Center for Gaming. She served in this role until 2020.

In 2020, Pettyjohn was part of the Defense Transition Team for the Biden administration. She was a peace scholar at the United States Institute of Peace and a research fellow at the Brookings Institute.

She was the director of the Strategy and Doctrine Program of the RAND Corporations Project AIR FORCE until March 2021. After which she became a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Defense Program at the Center for New American Security.

Since 2012, Pettyjohn has been an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies . She is also listed as a member of the U.S. Department Of Defense's Reserve Forces Policy Board's Total Force Integration Subcommittee, a federal advisory committee within the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Selected publications

  • Deradicalizing Islamist Extremists (2010)
  • U.S. Overseas Military Presence: What Are the Strategic Choices? (2012)
  • U.S. Global Defense Posture, 1783–2011 (2012)
  • The Posture Triangle: A New Framework for U.S. Air Force Global Presence (2013)
  • Portfolio Assessment of the Department of State Internet Freedom Program (2014)
  •  Access Granted: Political Challenges to the U.S. Overseas Military Presence, 1945–2014 (2016)
  • Continuity and Contingency in USAF Posture Planning (2016)
  • Competing in the Gray Zone: Russian Tactics and Western Responses (2019)
  • The Demand for Responsiveness in Past U.S. Military Operations (2021)
  • The Air War Against the Islamic State: The Role of Airpower in Operation Inherent Resolve (2021)
  • A Fight Over Taiwan Could Go Nuclear: War-Gaming Reveals How a U.S.-Chinese Conflict Might Escalate (2022)
  • West Coast Aerospace Forum 2022 (2023)
  • America's Eroding Airpower: Washington Must Upgrade Its Fleet of Planes, Drones, and Missiles (2025)