Alice Friend specializes in American civil-military relations and researches broad defense policy topics, including military posture, strategy, and emerging technology and capabilities. Her book project, under contract with Stanford University Press, builds a novel theory of civilians in democratic civil-military relations.
Friend is a scholar-practitioner and has served in several roles at the Pentagon. Most recently, she was the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Previously, she was Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Policy, Country Director for Pakistan, Principal Director for African Affairs, and Senior Advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary for Strategy, Plans, and Forces. Friend has been a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for a New American Security. She has published articles in The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, War on the Rocks, Lawfare, and Just Security.
