James J. Townsend, Jr. is an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where he co-hosts the podcast Brussels Sprouts, a weekly interview program featuring leaders in the transatlantic community. He also participates in the Washington Roundtable podcast produced by the Defense & Aerospace Report. Townsend is a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, a senior advisor at the Atlantic Council, and teaches a course on transatlantic security at Sciences Po Paris. From 2020 to 2023, he served as president of the Atlantic Treaty Association.
On January 20, 2017, Townsend completed eight years as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, concluding a 34-year career in defense and foreign policy, primarily focused on European and NATO issues. His work spanned the final decade of the Cold War, the post–Cold War political reconstruction of Europe, and emerging challenges including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the rise of China. Over the course of his career, he helped implement U.S. military engagement in nearly every major conflict from the Gulf War to the reintroduction of U.S. forces into Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He also played key roles in NATO enlargement and reform, as well as in developing bilateral defense relations with the new European democracies that emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Before becoming deputy assistant secretary in 2009, Townsend served as vice president of the Atlantic Council and director of the Council’s Program on International Security (now the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security). He joined the Atlantic Council in 2006 after a distinguished civil service career at the Pentagon and NATO. During the 1990s and early 2000s, he contributed to shaping the post–Cold War security environment in Europe as country director for Scandinavia (1990–1993) and deputy director of European policy (1993–1998).
In 1998, Townsend moved to Brussels to serve as director of the Defense Plans Division at the U.S. Mission to NATO (1998–2002). He later returned to the Pentagon as director of NATO policy (2002–2003) and subsequently principal director of European and NATO policy (2003–2006).
Earlier in his career, Townsend worked in foreign military sales at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) as country director for European security assistance and as assistant to the DSCA comptroller. His early professional experience also included positions at the U.S. Department of State, in the office of Congressman Charles E. Bennett, and at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA).
In 1986, Townsend received a direct commission in the U.S. Navy Reserve (Intelligence) and served until leaving the reserves with the rank of lieutenant commander.
Townsend has been decorated by eleven European nations, including the French Legion of Honor, and has received multiple awards from the U.S. Department of Defense, including the Presidential Rank Award (Meritorious Executive). He has lectured widely in the United States and abroad at academic institutions, war colleges, the National Defense University, the U.S. Air Force Academy, the Foreign Service Institute, and numerous think tanks. He frequently provides commentary on international security issues in television, radio, and print media.
Townsend earned a BA from Duke University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in international economics and American foreign policy.
