Anthony H. Cordesman holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and is a national security analyst for ABC News on a number of global conflicts. He is a former Professor of National Security Studies at Georgetown University and fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars at the Smithsonian Institution.

Cordesman has served as national security assistant to Senator John McCain of the Senate Armed Services Committee and civilian assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense. He was also the former director of intelligence assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense,

Cordesman also served in other government positions, including at the United States Department of State, Department of Energy, and director of International Staff at NATO. He has carried assignments posts in Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, the United Kingdom, West Germany and has worked "extensively" in Saudi Arabia.