American Nuclear Strategy and the Cold War

Dr. Edward A. Kaplan is Dean of the School of Strategic Landpower at the U.S. Army War College. In this role, he is responsible for facilitating the education of senior officers in the Army, other services, partner nations, and senior civilians. Dr. Kaplan is a 1994 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. After being awarded his master’s degree in History at the University of Calgary in 1997, Dr. Kaplan attended Intelligence training at Goodfellow Air Force Base, in Texas, where he was a distinguished graduate. He served in various intelligence roles at Beale Air Force Base, California, and deployed to directly support U-2 aircrew at overseas locations. In 1998, he became a Watch Officer and Flight Commander at the Misawa Cryptologic Operations Center, where he directed the mission of a joint Army, Navy and Air Force team.

Following his time in Japan, and a NATO deployment in support of U.S. operations in Kosovo, Dr. Kaplan reported for duty as an instructor in the History Department at the U.S. Air Force Academy. During his three-year tour, Dr. Kaplan deployed to Sarajevo for six months, was promoted to Assistant Professor, taught World History and advanced courses in American Foreign Policy and the Cold War, and directed the core Military History course. Dr. Kaplan then became the Readiness Flight Commander at the 607th Air Intelligence Squadron at Osan Air Base, Korea. Dr. Kaplan then returned to the University of Calgary where he received his Doctorate in History.

In 2007, Dr. Kaplan arrived at the Directorate of Intelligence on the Joint Staff, where he served as a strategic planner, an Assistant Deputy Director for Intelligence in the National Military Command Center and as the Executive Officer for the Director for Intelligence. During that assignment, Dr. Kaplan deployed to Camp Victory, Iraq where he was a speechwriter and strategist for the Commander of Multi-National Forces-Iraq, before returning to the position of Senior Editor for the daily intelligence briefing prepared for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense. In the summer of 2010, Dr. Kaplan returned to the Air Force Academy History Department as an Assistant Professor. He acted as the Deputy for Military History, Deputy Department Head, Acting Department Head, Director of the Dean’s Commander’s Action Group, and Professor and Head of the History Department, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado.

Dr. Kaplan retired from active duty in April 2020, in the rank of Colonel. He assumed the role of Professor of Strategic Studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy, until he assumed his present position in July 2021. He is the author of two books – To Kill Nations: American Strategy in the Air-Atomic Age and the Rise of Mutually Assured Destruction, and The End of Victory: Prevailing in the Thermonuclear Age, both from Cornell University Press.