William Luti is a retired U.S. Navy Captain who served more than 25 years as a career officer and held positions including membership on the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel, participation in the CNO’s Strategic Studies Group, and a legislative fellowship for the Speaker of the House. He joined the Bush administration in 2000, initially working for Vice President Dick Cheney on Middle East policy and serving as special advisor for national security affairs to the vice president, later becoming a special assistant to President George W. Bush for defense policy. From 2001 to 2005 he served as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, where he helped run and oversaw the Office of Special Plans under Douglas Feith. An early proponent of the Iraq War, he reportedly attended four Bilderberg meetings as Cheney's representative. After leaving government, Luti became vice president for strategic implementation at the Hudson Institute, a neoconservative think tank focused on foreign policy and national security.