David C. Gompert is a Senior Fellow at RAND with more than thirty years of experience in international security. In addition to having held a number of positions at the State Department, Mr. Gompert has served as a Senior Advisor for the National Security and Defense, Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq; President of RAND Europe; Special Assistant to President George H. W. Bush; and Senior Director for Europe and Eurasia on the National Security Council staff. Mr. Gompert holds a bachelor of science degree in engineering from the United States Naval Academy and a master of public affairs degree from the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University.

Brooke Stearns is a RAND Doctoral Fellow in policy analysis. Ms. Stearns has more than five years of experience in international development and post-conflict reconstruction, including fieldwork in Liberia, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, and Bangladesh. Ms. Stearns has worked with several U.S. and African nongovernmental organizations and served as an international development researcher on USAID’s Development Information Services project, where she focused on sub-Saharan Africa. Ms. Stearns holds a bachelor of art degree in international relations from Willamette University and a master’s in international development and conflict resolution from Sciences Po in Paris, France.