Andrew J. Bacevich (born July 5, 1947, in Normal, Illinois) is an American historian, political scientist, and retired U.S. Army colonel. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1969 and served in the Vietnam War from 1970 to 1971 as an armor officer, retiring with the rank of colonel in the early 1990s. After his military career, he earned a PhD in American Diplomatic History from Princeton University and became a professor of international relations and history. He is professor emeritus at Boston University's Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, where he previously directed the Center for International Relations. Bacevich is a prominent critic of American interventionism and neoconservative foreign policy, challenging U.S. military engagements and the influence of interventionist think tanks. In 2019, he co-founded and became president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, which advocates for restraint in U.S. foreign policy. His scholarly works, including 'The New American Militarism' and 'Washington Rules,' blend military experience with academic analysis to critique American empire and national security policy.