Michael O’Hanlon is the Director of Research at the Brookings Institution. He specializes in national security and defense policy. His current research agenda includes military strategy and technology, Northeast Asia, U.S. Central Command, and defense budgets. Dr. O’Hanlon is the author of multiple books, including his latest book, A Skeptic's Case for Nuclear Disarmament.

Emma Sky is currently a fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. From September 2008 to September 2010, she served as the Political Advisor to General Odierno in Iraq, and as Special Advisor on Reconciliation to General Petraeus in the summer of 2008. She has worked at senior levels on behalf of the U.S. and U.K. governments, in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Jerusalem, across the fields of development, defense, diplomacy, and with multi-civilian and military agencies.

Max Boot is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has served as an adviser to U.S. commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan and was a senior foreign policy adviser to Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2007 and 2008. He is also a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard and the Los Angeles Times, and a regular contributor to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

Moderated by: LTG James Dubik is Senior Fellow at ISW. He served in the U.S. Army for 37 years, rising to the rank of 3-star General. During his final tour, he served as the commander of Multi National Security Transition Command – Iraq and NATO Training Mission-Iraq (MNSTC-I, NTM-I) where he oversaw the accelerated growth of the Iraqi Security Forces during the surge period.