CFR Welcomes Jim Baker as Senior Fellow for Strategic Competition

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is pleased to welcome Jim Baker to the David Rockefeller Studies Program, CFR’s in-house think tank, as senior fellow for strategic competition.  

Mr. Baker is a national security strategist with more than two decades of experience advising at the cabinet level across five administrations. At CFR, his research will explore how institutional thought leadership needs to evolve in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and how frontier technologies are reshaping defense innovation among the United States, its allies, and its adversaries.  

“I’m delighted to welcome Jim to the Council,” said CFR President Michael Froman. “An engineer by training and analyst by trade, Jim is among foremost experts on the long-term foreign policy challenges facing the United States. His expertise will be an essential pillar of CFR’s work to assess emerging technologies, the changing character of warfare, and strategic competition with China.”  

Mr. Baker served most recently as director of the Office of Net Assessment at the U.S. Department of Defense, producing long-range assessments that informed decisions by the secretary of defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other cabinet officers. Prior that position, he was a strategist to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he served as a trusted counselor for matters of national strategy and global affairs, as well as crafted strategic assessments memoranda, among other duties. Mr. Baker has been recognized three times with the highest award available to career civil servants, from secretaries of defense in both political parties and from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

Mr. Baker attended Harvard Business School’s advanced management program and holds four graduate degrees, two in engineering and two from military institutions. 

To request an interview with Mr. Baker or another CFR fellow, please contact [email protected].