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Giselle Donnelly

Giselle Donnelly

Giselle Donnelly, a contributing editor of American Purpose, is a resident fellow in defense and national security at the American Enterprise Institute, where she focuses on national security and military strategy, operations, programs, and defense budgets.

From 1995 to 1999, Ms. Donnelly served as a policy group director and professional staff member at the House Armed Services Committee. She has also served as a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, the editor of Armed Forces Journal and Army Times, and the deputy editor of Defense News.

Ms. Donnelly has testified before Congress and has been widely published in the popular press, including in the Wall Street Journal and The Weekly Standard. Her many books include “Lessons for a Long War: How America Can Win on New Battlefields” (2010), coauthored with Frederick W. Kagan and others; “Ground Truth: The Future of U.S. Land Power” (2008), coauthored with Frederick W. Kagan; “Of Men and Materiel: The Crisis in Military Resources” (2007), coedited with Gary J. Schmitt; “The Military We Need: The Defense Requirements of the Bush Doctrine” ( 2005); and “Operation Iraqi Freedom: A Strategic Assessment” (2004). She is currently working on Empire for Liberty: The British Roots of American Strategy-Making.

Ms. Donnelly has a master’s degree in international public policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College.

Formerly Thomas Donnelly, Giselle Donnelly’s previous work can be found here.

Articles and Events

Imperial Déshabillé

Imperial Déshabillé

Ukraine is a test. Can the United States still think and act like a global power?

Giselle Donnelly
What Winning Looks Like

What Winning Looks Like

It’s no time for gloating over early Russian misfortune in Ukraine. Kyiv needs arms and we need a strategy.

Giselle Donnelly, Jeffrey Gedmin
Ukraine and the No-Fly Zone Temptation

Ukraine and the No-Fly Zone Temptation

American and British forces may have made it look easy in the past, but it’s hardly straightforward or risk-free.

Giselle Donnelly
No “Minor Incursion,” Mr. President

No “Minor Incursion,” Mr. President

Putin’s demands have not been peace offerings, but surrender terms. One prize: Ukraine.

Giselle Donnelly
Inconvenient Counterfactuals

Inconvenient Counterfactuals

Realists blame the United States for all that’s gone wrong in the Greater Middle East, but they’ve given little thought to the alternatives.

Giselle Donnelly
The Road to 9/11

The Road to 9/11

The distorting lens of the Cold War blinded the United States to the rise of political Islam—and we still aren’t seeing it clearly today.

Giselle Donnelly