Delegation Biographies
Dr. David Adesnik, Policy Director, Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI)David Adesnik is the Policy Director at the Foreign Policy Initiative, where he focuses ondefense and strategy issues. Previously, David was a visiting fellow at the Marilyn Ware
Center for Security Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. For two years, he served as
deputy director for Joint Data Support at the U.S. Department of Defense, where hefocused on the modeling and simulation of irregular warfare and counterinsurgency. David
also spent several years as research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses. In
that capacity, he spent several months in Baghdad as an operations research and systems
analyst for Multinational Corps – Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2008, he was partof the foreign policy and national security staff for John McCain’s presidential campaign.
David holds a doctorate and master’s degree in international relations from Oxford University, where he studied as aRhodes Scholar. His dissertation focused on the Reagan administration’s approach to democracy promotion. David
received a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University. He has been the recipient of fellowships from theCouncil on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Harvard University, and theUniversity of Virginia. His work has been published in Foreign Policy, The Weekly Standard, The National Review,The Washington Free Beacon, The Washington Quarterly, Forbes.com, FoxNews.com and The Daily Caller. David
has served as a commentator on several cable television networks and radio programs.
Rachel Hoff, Director of Defense Analysis, American Action Forum (AAF)
Rachel Hoff is Director of Defense Analysis at the American Action Forum. She previously
served as the Director of Government Relations & External Affairs at the Foreign Policy
Initiative, a think tank she helped found in 2009. From 2006 to 2008, Rachel worked as aLegislative Assistant for Congressman Mac Thornberry (R-TX), focusing on foreign affairs
and national security issues. From 2004 to 2006, she was a Research Assistant working withseveral foreign and defense policy scholars at the American Enterprise Institute. Rachelreceived a master’s degree in Global Policy Studies from the University of Texas at Austin’s
LBJ School of Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Tufts
University. She has worked and volunteered for numerous Republican Party campaigns andorganizations and represented Washington, DC as a delegate at the 2012 Republican National Convention. Rachel has
also been elected as a 2016 convention delegate and will serve on the Platform Committee.
Phillip Lohaus, Research Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
Phillip Lohaus is a Research Fellow in the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies at theAemerican Enterprise Institute. Previously, he conducted studies into emerging
technological trends for the Long Term Strategy Group and served as a research assistant inthe Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at Johns Hopkins. From 2006-2012, Phillip was atargeting and intelligence analyst with the U.S. Department of Defense, a period which
included tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. In his current role, Phillip focuses on hybrid warfareand grey zone challenges across the globe, including in East Asia. He also serves as theExecutive Director of the American Internationalism Project, a bipartisan effort chaired byformer Senators Jon Kyl and Joe Lieberman, which seeks to reaffirm the importance ofAmerican leadership in world affairs. In addition to commentary and analysis published in outlets such as the National
Interest and The Hill, his research has been cited in several congressional testimonies. He is the recipient of a Joint
Civilian Service Commendation Medal from U.S. Special Operations Command, and holds a B.A. from the Universityof Florida and an M.A. in Strategic Studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Delegation Biographies (cont’d)Samuel J. Brannen, Senior Manager, Global Business Policy Council, A.T. Kearney
Sam is senior manager in A.T. Kearney’s Global Business Policy Council (GBPC), a strategic
advisory service specifically designed for the world's top CEOs and far-sighted thought
leaders in both business and government. He joined A.T. Kearney in December 2014. Sam
was previously a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS),
where he focused on U.S. national security strategy and policy. Prior to that time, Sam
served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He holds a B.A. in political science fromTrinity University (San Antonio, TX) and an M.A. in international affairs from the George
Washington University. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and daughter.
Melissa Dalton, Senior Fellow and Chief of Staff, International Security Program,Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Melissa Dalton is a senior fellow and chief of staff of the CSIS International Security
Program (ISP). Her research focuses on U.S. defense policy in the Middle East, global U.S.
defense strategy and policy, and security cooperation with U.S. allies and partners. As chiefof staff, she advises the director of ISP on a broad range of strategic and management issues.
Prior to CSIS, she served in a number of positions at the U.S. Department of Defense(DoD), in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2007-14. She mostrecently was a senior adviser for force planning, where she contributed to the 2014
Quadrennial Defense Review and DoD’s planning guidance. Previously, she served asspecial assistant to the under secretary of defense for policy, as policy adviser to the commander of the International
Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Afghanistan, and as country director for Lebanon and Syria. From 2003-5, sheserved as an intelligence analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency. Her commentary and analysis has appeared inCNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Fortune, Defense News, and the National Interest. Sheholds a B.A. in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia and an M.A. in international relations/economics fromJohns Hopkins SAIS.
Brian Harding, Director for East and Southeast Asia, National Security andInternational Policy Team, Center for American Progress (CAP)
Brian Harding is Director for East and Southeast Asia for the National Security andInternational Policy team at American Progress. From 2009 to 2013, he served in the Officeof the Secretary of Defense (Policy) as country director for Asian and Pacific security affairs,
where he managed defense relations with major U.S. partners in Southeast Asia andOceania—including Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand—and advised senior
Department of Defense leadership on Asia-Pacific regional strategy. In this position,Harding played an instrumental role in several high-profile defense policy initiatives,
including agreements to station U.S. Marines in Darwin, Australia, and littoral combat ships
in Singapore. Prior to working at the DoD, Harding was a research associate at CSIS, where he focused on Southeast
Asia and Japan. Previously, he was a Fulbright scholar in Indonesia, a research assistant at the Wilson Center, and aresearch assistant at the Institute for National Strategic Studies. Harding holds an M.A. in Asian studies from theElliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University, a B.A. in history and Japanese studies
from Middlebury College, and has studied at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and Doshisha
University in Kyoto, Japan.

Delegation Biographies (cont’d)Dr. Jeffrey Hornung, Fellow for Security and Foreign Affairs, Sasakawa USA
Dr. Jeffrey Hornung is the Fellow for the Security and Foreign Affairs Program at Sasakawa
USA. Previously, Hornung worked as an Associate Professor for the Daniel K. Inouye AsiaPacific Center for Security Studies, a Department of Defense executive education facility inHonolulu, Hawaii. In that capacity he led courses, served as a seminar facilitator and briefed
DOD and U.S. Pacific Command officials on Japanese security issues. From 2009-2010,
Hornung served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Ohio State University’s East AsianStudies Center, where he taught courses on Japan and East Asia. Previously, he served as aresearch assistant at George Washington University on the project, “Memory andReconciliation in the Asia-Pacific.” In addition to three years of teaching English in Japan onthe JET Program, he also worked for a member of the Japanese Diet during the 2001 House of Councillors election.
Hornung has written about Japanese security and foreign policy issues for numerous outlets including Asian Security,The Washington Quarterly, Foreign Affairs, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and The Diplomat. He received his Ph.D.
in political science from the George Washington University. He also holds an MA in international relations with aconcentration in Japan Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
and a BA in political science and international affairs from Marquette University, where he graduated magna cum
laude. During 2005-2006, Hornung conducted 15 months of doctoral research as a Fulbright Fellow at the Universityof Tokyo, where he was a visiting scholar.