Dr. Bernie Kaussler is Professor of Political Science at James Madison University. His research focus deals with diplomacy and statecraft, conflict management, US foreign policy and Middle East security. His latest book was published by Routledge in 2017 and is on the impact of US foreign policy on Middle East security: US Foreign Policy Towards the Middle East: The Realpolitik of Deceit . He is currently working on a manuscript on the impact of populism on international security and democratic norms. He enjoys the intersection of scholarship and the policy-making community. To that end, he has produced national security teaching materials, including simulations on national security decision-making for the US Air Force and participated in AWG war games on the Middle East. He has been teaching 'Hacking for Diplomacy' at the JMU X-Labs since 2017 and worked closely with a number of US federal agencies and US military.