Mailing address
Littauer 377
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
79 JFK St.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
Eric Rosenbach
Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Contact:
Telephone: 617-495-7747
Email: eric_rosenbach@ksg.harvard.edu
Experience
Eric Rosenbach is the Executive Director for Research at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Prior to his work at the Belfer Center, Rosenbach was a professional staff member on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and served as the national security advisor for U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel.
On the Intelligence Committee, Rosenbach provided oversight of the intelligence community’s counterterrorism efforts. Rosenbach led and authored two formal Senate Intelligence Committee investigations of prewar intelligence on Iraq, entitled Postwar Findings about Iraq’s Links to Terrorism and Prewar Intelligence about Postwar Iraq.
Rosenbach previously worked as a vice president and chief security officer for the largest internet service provider in Europe. He was responsible for all aspects of cyber-security, privacy and network operations.
Rosenbach served as an active-duty military intelligence officer supporting post-conflict operations in the Balkans. As a Company Commander, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. The Director of Central Intelligence named his company as the top intelligence organization in the U.S. military for two consecutive years.
Rosenbach co-edited a book on military leadership entitled, In Pursuit of Excellence. He co-authored a book on counter-terrorism policy with Richard A. Clarke. His published work has appeared in the International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun.
As a Fulbright Scholar, Rosenbach conducted post-graduate research on privatization programsin Eastern Europe. He completed a juris doctor at Georgetown University Law Center and a master's in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a proud graduate of Davidson College, where he played football.
August 15, 2008
Memo to the Next President: Intelligence & Counterterrorism
Media Feature
By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
In this exclusive web video, Eric Rosenbach, Belfer Center Executive Director for Research and former professional staff member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, outlines the priorities on which the next president should focus in order to improve U.S. intelligence capabilities.
Jacom Stephens
July 2008
The Incisive Fight: Recommendations for Improving Counterterrorism Intelligence
Book Chapter, volume 618
By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The intelligence community has evolved significantly since the failures of 9/11 and the inaccurate assessments on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Congressional action has resulted in multiple far-reaching reforms and tectonic organizational shifts. On the strategic level, however, counterterrorism intelligence policy has been muddled during the past eight years. The Bush administration, for example, called on the intelligence community to "bolster the growth of democracy." The next president should cast aside political ideology and build on reform efforts to empower top-notch leaders. Strong new leaders in the intelligence community must energize the National Counterterrorism Center and provide the president with comprehensive and policy-relevant intelligence analysis. The United States cannot eliminate the global terrorist threat alone—the next president must boost cooperation with liaison security services. Finally, the intelligence community must bolster its operational capacity to find and detain terrorists around the world.
AP Photo
July 18, 2008
"China's Cyber Warriors"
Op-Ed, Balitmore Sun
By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Tamara Klajn
Could the United States be under attack from China without Americans even really knowing it?
Last week, Republican Reps. Frank R. Wolf of Virginia and Christopher H. Smith of New Jersey announced that Chinese hackers had attacked their office computers. Mr. Wolf and Mr. Smith, very public critics of China's human rights record, noted that it was likely that in 2006, the hackers sought to steal information about Chinese dissidents and refugees who had sought assistance from members of Congress.
Skeptics have suggested that the politicians' announcement was most likely intended as good old-fashioned China-bashing. After all, the details of the incident were "old news" to the U.S. national security community. And even the casual observer of American politics knows that China is often the target of unwarranted populist attacks on Capitol Hill.
AP Photo
May 28, 2008
"Real Intelligence Men Don't Cry"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Eric Rosenbach, responding to a Washington Post Sunday "Outlook" article by former senior intelligence official Mark Lowenthal, advises the next director of National Intelligence: "Don't whine to policymakers about the difficulty of your job. Don't make excuses for your failures. And definitely don't claim that the intelligence community can't do any better."
Spring 2008
Free: College Curriculum Package Simulates Oil Crisis
Announcement
By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE), in collaboration with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, has created a free college curriculum box set that includes all of the materials needed to conduct an energy crisis simulation in your classroom. The exercise is based on Oil ShockWave™, SAFE's one-of-a-kind oil crisis simulation, which has featured participants such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Dan Yergin and former director of the CIA R. James Woolsey.
AP Photo
March 19, 2008
Five Years Into Iraq: A Report Card
Media Feature
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School, Brigadier General (ret.) Kevin Ryan, Affiliate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Meghan O'Sullivan, Lecturer in Public Policy, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Paul Kane, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program
With the war in Iraq stretching past the five-year mark, experts weigh in on what has gone right, what has gone wrong, and lessons learned. Paul Kane, a Marine veteran of Iraq, writes of the “serious disconnect” between civilians and those who have served in uniform, while Meghan O’Sullivan, former deputy national security advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan, says that today “we have the right strategy in place — and it is making a difference on the ground.”
AP Photo
December 7, 2007
"Rethinking U.S. Foreign Policy"
Op-Ed, Globe and Mail
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School and Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
The U.S. Intelligence report released on December 3rd, 2007 reported that Iran halted its nuclear program in 2003. This report nullifies the 2005 estimate that the Iranian government was determined to develop a nuclear weapons program. Graham Allison and Eric Rosenbach propose that this new information offers the Bush Administration a new opportunity to repair its broken policy toward Iran.
AP Photo
November 2, 2007
"President Bush Reciting Bin Laden's Script"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Matan Chorev, Research Assistant, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
President Bush's mischaracterization of the Iraq war as a battle against al-Qaeda has led to both a restoration of the extremist group's capabilities to attack the United States and increased support for Jihadist attacks in the region, according to Eric Rosenbach and Matan Chorev.
AP Images
September 7, 2007
Iraq Progress Report: Reading Between the Lines
Media Feature
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School, Brigadier General (ret.) Kevin Ryan, Affiliate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Paul Kane, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program, Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Stephen M. Walt, Robert and Renée Belfer Professor of International Affairs; Faculty Chair, International Security Program
With Gen. David H. Petraeus scheduled to appear before Congress next week, Belfer Center experts and researchers offer their insights and analysis — as well as items that Congress should not overlook.
November 16, 2005
Defeating the Jihadists
Book
By Richard Clarke, Faculty Affiliate, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Eric Rosenbach, Executive Director for Research, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Blake W. Mobley, Glenn P. Age and Lee Wolosky, Former Research Assistant, Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project
The international jihadist network of radical Islamic terrorist groups is far more extensive than just al Qaeda, and it has conducted twice as many attacks in the three years since September 11, 2001 as it did in the three years prior to that date. Defeating the Jihadists: A Blueprint for Action (Century Foundation Press, 2004), assesses the nation's successes and failures on homeland security and calls for a stronger, more effective strategy for dealing with jihadists, including al Qaeda. The report offers a detailed action plan for neutralizing the international movement at the core of worldwide terrorism. The report also describes the nature of the jihadist threat; provides comprehensive profiles of the various jihadist groups; and offers a rationale for the effort and money that would be needed to make the plan a success. The plan presented in the report builds on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and serves as a road map for winning the war against the jihadists.
