A hybrid scholar-practitioner, David A. Cooper has more than 30 years of expertise in nuclear policy, arms control negotiations, nuclear and missile nonproliferation, and foreign and defense policy. He is the James V. Forrestal Professor Emeritus of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College.
Prior to becoming an academic, David served for nearly 20 years as a career official in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) — including as a career tenure member of the Senior Executive Service (SES). His prior Pentagon roles included Principal Director for Homeland Security Integration, Director of Nonproliferation, and Director of Strategic Arms Control Policy. Cooper is the author of numerous books (most recently Arms Control for the Third Nuclear Age: Between Disarmament and Armageddon [2021]) and articles in such journals as Foreign Policy Analysis, Nonproliferation Review, Orbis, and the Washington Quarterly. David is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.