Contributors
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Brig. Gen. James D. Cleet, U.S. Air Force, is the deputy director of U.S. European Command Plans and Operations Directorate. He is responsible for the development and execution of operations supporting U.S. interests and regional alliances in the EUCOM area of responsibility, including information operations, integrated air and missile defense, and nuclear command, control and communications. Brig. Gen. Cleet is a command pilot with more than 3,900 hours flying C-130s and F-16s, and he has flown more than 200 combat sorties. During his 23-year service in the U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard, Brig. Gen. Cleet has held squadron, group and wing commands. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Narantsatsral Enkhbat is a Partners Across the Globe research fellow at the NATO Defense College in Rome, where she focuses on China’s conflict behavior and the political-strategic dimensions of its military exercises. She was previously with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Mongolia and taught at the National University of Mongolia and National Defense University of Mongolia. She is a Marshall Center alumna, a Fulbright alumna and holds a master’s degree in security studies from Kansas State University.
Theresa Fallon is the founder and director of the Centre for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels. She is a member of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, the Loisach Group, the Center for European Policy Studies task force on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, and the nonprofit National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.
Professor Kerry K. Gershaneck is a fellow with NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium and a senior fellow with the Global Risk Mitigation Foundation in Hawaii. He is a visiting scholar at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, and at Thailand’s Thammasat University, Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy and Royal Thai Naval Academy. He is former U.S. Marine Corps officer.
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bill Hagestad, U.S. Marine Corps, is a field-experienced international cyberwarfare officer. He has taught cyber intelligence and critical infrastructure protection at the National Security Agency’s Cyber Center of Excellence and at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. He is an internationally registered white-hat hacker and a leading military authority on the People’s Republic of China and its use of computer and information network systems as weapons.
Sarder Ali Haider is a research fellow and Ph.D. candidate at the Bangladesh University of Professionals, where he studies nonstate actors and insurgents in Myanmar and Northeast India. A graduate of the Terrorism and Security Studies course at the Marshall Center, he has authored numerous publications, book chapters and conference papers, and is deeply engaged in research on regional security, terrorism and insurgency.
Col. (Ret.) Mark Stiefbold, U.S. Army, has master’s degrees in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College and in manufacturing systems engineering from Lehigh University, and an executive MBA from the Fundação Getulio Vargas in Brazil. His research areas include riparian nations’ water security and stability, global project management and manufacturing optimization. He is currently the operations director for a global engineering and automation firm.
Dr. Rod Stiefbold was a professor of political science, government and international relations before entering international management consulting. He has experience and expertise in academia, business, management consulting and government. Now retired, he continues research and policy work focused on conflict management in deeply divided societies. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Joseph Vann is a retired U.S. government professional with more than 40 years of service. He was a professor of National Security Studies at the Marshall Center (2011-2014, 2016-2023). His expertise lies in addressing transnational security challenges and in assisting countries to develop national security and ministerial-level strategies. He currently heads GAP Consulting, which advises select countries on national security architecture and strategy development.
Dr. Valbona Zeneli is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States, with dual affiliation at the Europe Center and the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Transatlantic Security Initiative. She also is a visiting scholar at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University.