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Nathaniel C. Fick

Nathaniel C. Fick

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Related Topics: Development and Diplomacy, Iraq, Regional Security Challenges, Terrorism, Irregular Warfare and Crime, U.S. Military Forces & Operations, U.S. National Security and Defense Policy
Chief Executive Officer

Nathaniel C. Fick was appointed CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) in June 2009. He was previously the chief operating officer of CNAS and has been a fellow at the Center since its founding in 2007.

Prior to joining CNAS, Mr. Fick served as a Marine Corps infantry officer. He took part in the earliest phases of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2001 and 2002 and led a reconnaissance unit during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He served in 2007 as a civilian instructor at the Afghanistan Counterinsurgency Academy in Kabul, and in 2008 on the Presidential Transition Team at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He is the author of the 2005 New York Times bestseller One Bullet Away, recognized as one of the “Best Books of the Year” by The Washington Post and one of the "Best Military Books of the Decade" by The Military Times. The Commanding General of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command made One Bullet Away required reading for officers deploying to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr. Fick's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes and Foreign Policy, among other publications, and he is a frequent contributor to television and radio. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders.

Mr. Fick serves on the boards of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, dedicated to providing educational opportunities for the children of Marines killed in action, and the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth College, which encourages graduates to embark on careers in public service.

He is an operating partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, the oldest venture capital firm in America.

Mr. Fick holds an A.B. degree with high honors in classics and government from Dartmouth, an MPA in international security policy from the Kennedy School of Government, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

He is a certified sailboat charter captain, and lives with his wife and daughter in Washington.

Areas of Expertise

  • Broad foreign policy
  • Elements of national security strategy
  • U.S. military forces and operations

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