General John P. Abizaid, U.S. Army (Retired)

General John P. Abizaid supports his team of consultants with his deep expertise in regional as well as international strategy. He has more than four decades of experience in international affairs, counterterrorism, national defense and strategic advising.

A retired US Army four-star General, Abizaid most recently served as the US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The General also served as the Distinguished Chair (Emeritus) of the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy at West Point and was the first Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has worked with the Preventive Defense Project at Stanford University and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, served on the CIA’s External Advisory Board, and served on President Obama’s Intelligence Advisory Board. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He led the Dover Inquiry Panel and co-chaired the 2014 National Defense Panel, as well as leading several other national level assessment panels dealing with military issues. From 2016 – 2018 he served as the senior advisor for the Secretary of Defense to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense. In 2015 he was inducted into the US Army Ranger Hall of Fame. 

General Abizaid retired from the United States Army in May 2007 as Commander of US Central Command, after thirty-four years of active service. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he commanded units at every level, serving in Grenada, Lebanon, Kurdistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Units under his command include the 1st Infantry Division, a brigade in the 82nd Airborne Division, a Parachute Battalion Combat Team and two Ranger companies.

He studied at the University of Jordan in Amman, holds a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University.

• International Relations
• Middle East Affairs
• Defense Transformation