Project Staff

Clark Murdock, Director

Clark Murdock, a senior adviser at CSIS, specializes in strategic planning, defense policy, and national security affairs. He joined CSIS in January 2001 and subsequently coauthored (with Michele Flournoy) Revitalizing the U.S. Nuclear Deterrent (CSIS, 2002). He is the principal author of Improving the Practice of National Security Strategy: A New Approach for the Post-Cold War World (CSIS, 2004). And he is the lead investigator of a two-year study on U.S. Defense Department reform entitled Beyond Goldwater-Nichols: Defense Reform for a New Strategic Era (CSIS, 2004). He now leads the Project on Nuclear Issues, building a networked group of young professionals in the nuclear community. In 2000, Dr. Murdock was a visiting professor at the National War College, where he taught courses on military strategy, the national security process, and military innovation. From 1995 to 2000, he served as deputy director of the U.S. Air Force's headquarters planning function, where he helped define a coherent strategic vision for 2020 and institutionalize a new long-range planning process. Prior to joining the air force, Dr. Murdock headed the Policy Planning Staff in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; from 1987 to 1993, he served as the senior policy adviser to House Armed Services Committee (HASC) chairman Les Aspin; and prior to HASC, he was employed at the Central Intelligence Agency. He also taught political science for 10 years at the State University of New York at Buffalo, during which time he authored Defense Policy Formation: A Comparative Analysis of the McNamara Era (SUNY, 1974). Dr. Murdock is an honors graduate of Swarthmore College and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Mark Jansson, Deputy Director

Mark Jansson is the deputy director for the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) and is responsible for organizing PONI’s yearly conference series, editing PONI publications, and handling the project’s administrative functions. Prior to joining CSIS, Mark worked for a USAID contractor in Central America, where he helped analyze the societal and institutional impacts of rule of law reforms. Mark recently earned an M.A. in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University, where his studies focused primarily on international security and politics. He also holds a graduate certificate in World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution from George Mason University and a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Roanoke College. Before turning his attention to studying politics, Mark worked for several years in the nonprofit and public sectors as a grant writer, foundation liaison, and grant administrator.   

John K. Warden, Program Coordinator

John Warden is a research assistant and program coordinator at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he works with the Defense and National Security Group and the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI). He leads a number of PONI initiatives including the Nuclear Scholars Initiative, the PONI Debates the Issues blog and Live Debate Series, International Outreach, and the Next Generation Working Group and also coordinates the CSIS US-Japan-ROK Track II Nuclear Dialogues. He previously worked on the project staff for Exploring the Nuclear Posture Implications of Extended Deterrence and Assurance, as well as Technical Challenges Associated With the New U.S. Nuclear Agenda and has been a frequent contributor to the PONI Debates the Issues blog. After receiving a BA from Northwestern University, he joined the CSIS as a recipient of the William J. Taylor debate internship.