Kenneth M. Pollack is a former CIA Persian Gulf military analyst specializing in Iran-Iraq military affairs, where he served as the principal author of the CIA's classified postmortem on Iraqi strategy and operations during the Persian Gulf War. He later worked as Director for Persian Gulf Affairs on the National Security Council staff, focusing on regional military and political issues. Pollack has held prominent roles at major think tanks, including Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy (2002-2012), Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute focusing on Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Gulf countries, and Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group. He is currently Vice President for Policy and a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute, where he continues commentary on Middle East politics and military affairs. A prolific author, Pollack has written books analyzing the military history of Arab states such as Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, and others, along with numerous articles on international relations.