Michael Robert Shurkin

Michael R. Shurkin is a defense analyst, author, and consultant specializing in military strategy, European security, and African geopolitics. He holds a Ph.D. in history from Yale University, a B.A. from Stanford University, and studied history and sociology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. Shurkin spent nearly five years as a political analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, where he provided all-source intelligence on West Africa and Afghanistan to senior policymakers, Congress, and military leaders. He received two agency citations, including recognition for his work on Darfur and Afghanistan governance. He subsequently spent over a decade at the RAND Corporation as a Senior Political Scientist, where he led research on force modernization, military capabilities, and European defense for clients including the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Army G-8. His RAND publications include studies on French Army networked warfare, France's defense capabilities from a burden sharing perspective, and the history of the Third Offset. Since 2021, Shurkin has worked as an independent consultant advising clients on defense and security affairs, and as Director of Global Programs at 14 North Strategies, a boutique business intelligence firm. He has published in War on the Rocks, the Texas National Security Review, and the Wavell Room, and writes a weekly policy column on Substack. He produces analytical videos on military affairs for his YouTube channel, Pax Americana, which has over 42,000 subscribers. He is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute and was awarded France's Ordre National du Mérite in 2024 for his contributions to French defense. He is based in Washington, DC.