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twc.edu Speaker Bios Gen. John Allen Retired U.S. Marine Corps Four-Star General General John Allen is a retired four-star Marine Corps general and one of the nation's leading voices on U.S. geopolitical strategy, with expertise spanning Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and NATO. He led the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, overseeing 150,000 troops and managing a complex strategic transition during a pivotal phase of the war. Earlier in his career, he served in Iraq's al Anbar province, where his efforts to align Sunni tribal leaders against al-Qaeda marked a major turning point. He has also held key leadership roles at U.S. Central Command and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. A senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University, Allen is a frequent commentator in national media and co-author of Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. He holds advanced degrees from Georgetown, the Defense Intelligence College, and the National Defense University, and is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Andrew Bakaj Founding and Managing Partner, Compass Rose Legal Group Andrew P. Bakaj is a former U.S. intelligence officer and a preeminent expert on lawful whistleblowing. In oversight roles at the Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency, he has investigated fraud, waste, and abuse and written federal regulations prohibiting retaliation. Mr. Bakaj was a lawful whistleblower at the CIA, experienced employment retaliation, and was ultimately vindicated through an investigation. He served as lead counsel to the anonymous intelligence officer whose 2019 disclosures about Ukraine led to the first impeachment of President Trump—keeping them safe and in their job. Mr. Bakaj holds a bachelor's degree from The George Washington University and a J.D. from Syracuse University College of Law. Jessica Brandt Former Director, Foreign Malign Influence Center, ODNI Jessica Brandt was policy director for the Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative at the Brookings Institution and a fellow in the Foreign Policy program's Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology. Her research interests and recent publications focused on foreign interference, disinformation, digital authoritarianism and the implications of emerging technologies for liberal democracies. Vera Bergengruen National Security Reporter, The Wall Street Journal Vera Bergengruen is a national security reporter at The Wall Street Journal in Washington, D.C. Before joining the Journal, she was a senior correspondent at Time magazine, where she covered the intersection of national security, tech and politics and reported cover stories from Ukraine, Argentina and El Salvador. Previously she worked as a national security and investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News. She began her journalism career at her hometown Miami Herald and its parent company McClatchy, where she did stints covering everything from hurricanes to Congress, the Defense Department and the White House. Her work has won the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi and Dateline Awards and a New York Press Club Award. She was also part of the team that worked on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Panama Papers investigation in 2017. Vera is originally from Uruguay and grew up in Chile, Germany, Mexico and Miami.

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