Chas W. Freeman, Jr. is a senior fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. He is the former assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs (1993–94) and the former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia (1989–92). He has served as president of the Middle East Policy Council (1997–2009); co-chair of the United States China Policy Foundation (1996–2009); and principal deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs (1986–89). He is the author of America’s Continuing Misadventures in the Middle East; Interesting Times: China, America, and the Shifting Balance of Prestige; and Arts of Power: Statecraft and Diplomacy. He has contributed to Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and National Interest.