John Drennan is a senior program officer in USIP’s Center for Russia and Europe, where he manages the center’s strategic stability portfolio. He also contributes to USIP’s work on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, U.S.-Russia relations and strategic competition.

Drennan joined USIP from the RAND Corporation, where he focused on strategic competition, nuclear strategy and arms control, and Russian and Chinese foreign policy and military strategy. Before RAND, he held several roles at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), most recently as special assistant to the executive director, where he conducted research and oversaw program management for the IISS Non-Proliferation and Nuclear Policy program and the IISS Cyber, Space and Future Conflict program; managed outreach to senior U.S. government officials to participate in IISS regional security conferences in Bahrain and Singapore; and contributed to development, fundraising and DEI efforts in the IISS-Americas office.

Before that, he was a research analyst and program officer in the IISS Russia and Eurasia program, where he researched Russia’s relations in Northeast Asia and conflicts in Eurasia while managing the program’s budget, events, external relations, project development and internship program.

Drennan is currently a doctoral student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His research focuses on nuclear strategy, arms control, the Cold War and the history of U.S. foreign policy. He holds a master’s from SAIS in strategic studies and international economics and a bachelor’s in international studies, political science and economics from Case Western Reserve University. He has a working proficiency of Russian and is studying Mandarin.