Paul Lettow is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he focuses on US foreign policy, US grand strategy, and strategic competition with China and Russia. He is concurrently a senior fellow at the America in the World Consortium, a partnership of universities (Duke, Florida, Johns Hopkins, and Texas) dedicated to policy-relevant research. He is currently writing a book on the history of U.S. national security strategy from Truman to today.

Before joining AEI, Dr. Lettow served on the National Security Council staff at the White House as senior director for strategic planning. In addition, he was senior adviser to the under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs in the State Department.

After serving in government, Dr. Lettow was deputy chief counsel for the US Chamber Litigation Center, where he directed a litigation program to promote the success of the US private sector. He was also a partner in the government regulation practice group at Jones Day.

A popular speaker and author, Dr. Lettow has appeared on Fox News and ABC News Radio and has written for publications such as Foreign Policy, National Review, and Texas National Security Review. His articles include “U.S. National Security Strategy: Lessons Learned” in Texas National Security Review (Spring 2021) and “Have We Hit Peak America? The Sources of U.S. Power and the Path to National Renaissance” in Foreign Policy (July 2014).

He is the author of Ronald Reagan and His Quest to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Random House, 2005) and several reports and book chapters. These include “Evaluating the Biden Administration’s National Defense Strategy and Budget” (Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute, 2022) and Strengthening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime (Council on Foreign Relations, 2010).

Dr. Lettow has a JD from Harvard Law School, a DPhil in international relations from Oxford University (Christ Church), and an AB in history from Princeton University.