Dr. David Kilcullen is Professor of International and Political Studies at the University of New South Wales, Canberra, Professor of Practice at Arizona State University, and CEO and President of the research firm Cordillera Applications Group. Dr. Kilcullen is a theorist and practitioner of guerrilla and unconventional warfare and counterterrorism, with operational experience over a 25-year career with the Australian and U.S. governments as an Army officer, intelligence analyst, policy adviser and diplomat.
He served in Iraq as senior counterinsurgency advisor to U.S. General David Petraeus, then as senior advisor to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and has served in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Libya and Colombia. He is the author of five prize-winning books on terrorism, insurgency, urbanization and future warfare as well as numerous scholarly papers on urbanization, conflict and future warfare.
He has led several concept design projects for the U.S. and allied governments, and currently works with national and city-level governments in the United States, Australia, Africa, Latin America and Europe on urban development, public safety and counterterrorism. He worked for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Afghanistan, and continues to work with advanced research agencies focused on future conflict.
He is a lead researcher for NATO’s ongoing Urbanization Program, and is a special adviser to the South Africa-based Brenthurst Foundation.