Scholars

Zack Cooper

Senior Fellow
Research Areas

US strategy in Asia, Alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, US-China strategic competition, Defense strategy during power shifts

Contact

Research Assistant

Noah Burke Send Email

Media Request

Kareem Rifai 202.934.0185 Send Email

Bio & Experience

Zack Cooper is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies US strategy in Asia, including alliance dynamics and US-China competition. He also teaches at Princeton University and serves as chair of the board of the Open Technology Fund. He is currently writing a book for Yale University Press that explains how militaries change during power shifts.

Before joining AEI, Dr. Cooper was the senior fellow for Asian security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He previously worked as codirector of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He also served as assistant to the deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism at the National Security Council and as a special assistant to the principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy at the Department of Defense.

Dr. Cooper has published research reports on a number of aspects of US strategy and alliances in Asia. He has also co-authored several books and written articles for academic journals and popular press, including International Security, Security Studies, Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, among other outlets. Dr. Cooper graduated from Princeton University with a PhD and an MA in security studies and an MPA in international relations. He received a BA in public policy from Stanford University.

Experience

  • Open Technology Fund: Board Member, 2022–present, Chair, 2024-present
  • Armitage International LLC: Partner, 2021–present
  • Princeton University: Lecturer in Public and International Affairs, 2020–present
  • Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: China Fellow, 2025–26
  • S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Singapore): Visiting Senior Fellow, 2024–25
  • ISEAS (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies)–Yusof Ishak Institute: Visiting Fellow, 2022
  • German Marshall Fund of the United States: Codirector of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and Senior Fellow, 2019–22
  • Center for Strategic and International Studies: Senior Fellow for Asian Security, 2013–18
  • Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments: Research Fellow, 2010–13
  • National Security Council, The White House: Assistant to the Deputy National Security Adviser for Combating Terrorism, 2007–08
  • US Department of Defense: Special Assistant to the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, 2006–07; Foreign Affairs Specialist, 2005–06

Education

PhD, and MA, security studies, MPA, international relations, Princeton University
BA, public policy, Stanford University

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