Cato on Facebook
Cato on Twitter
Cato on YouTube
Cato RSS1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20001-5403
Phone (202) 842 0200
Fax (202) 842 3490
Contact Us
David Isenberg
Adjunct Scholar
David Isenberg is an independent, Washington-D.C. based analyst and writer on military, foreign policy, national and international security issues and the author of Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq. He is an expert in U.S. defense policy , WMD proliferation, terrorism, homeland security, peace operations, the intelligence community, international arms trade, small arms proliferation, private military companies, biological weapons, and general arms control issues.
Isenberg blogs regularly at the Partnership For A Secure America and the HuffingtonPost.
Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
Books and Book Chapters
Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008).
Cato Studies
"Empty Promises: Why the Bush Administration's Half-Hearted Attempts at Defense Reform Have Failed," by David Isenberg and Ivan Eland, Policy Analysis no. 442, June 11, 2002.
"Imperial Overreach: Washington's Dubious Strategy to Overthrow Saddam Hussein," Policy Analysis no. 360, November 17, 1999.
"The Quadrennial Defense Review: Reiterating the Tired Status Quo," Policy Analysis no. 317, September 17, 1998.
"The Misleading Military "Readiness Crisis"," Foreign Policy Briefing no. 35, July 25, 1995.
"The Pentagon's Fraudulent Bottom-Up Review," Policy Analysis no. 206, April 21, 1994.
Articles and Newsletters
"Private Military Contractors and U.S. Grand Strategy," PRIO Report, International Peace Research Institute, Oslo, October 2009.
"Analysis of James Gordan v. ArmorGroup North America," Private Military Herald, September 20, 2009.
Opinion and Commentary
"KBR Is Asking for It," Huffington Post, February 8, 2010
"How We Doing? Contractors and Their Lobbyists," Huffington Post, February 5, 2010
"Contractors and the Civilian Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act," Huffington Post, February 2, 2010
"About That Non-Discretionary Spending," Huffington Post, January 26, 2010
"DynCorp in Iraq," Huffington Post, January 24, 2010
Speeches and Testimony
Shadow Force: Private Security Contractors in Iraq , Speech, February 16, 2009.
Has the Privatization of National Security Gone Too Far? , Speech, November 14, 2008.
Multimedia
David Isenberg discusses the dismissal of charges against Blackwater contractors on Al Jazeera January 2, 2010 [Flash Video, 07:18]
"Security Contractors in Iraq" featuring David Isenberg, December 29, 2008 [Flash Audio, 08:46]
Feeds for Cato events: 