Dr. Peter Brookes is The Heritage Foundation’s Senior Research Fellow for Weapons of Mass Destruction and Counter Proliferation.

Before joining Heritage in 2002, Dr. Brookes served in the administration of President George W. Bush as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs. In this post, he was responsible for U.S. defense policy for 38 countries and five bilateral defense alliances in Asia.

While at Heritage, he also served as a commissioner with the congressionally mandated U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission, nominated by two different Speakers of the House of Representatives. Dr. Brookes also worked as a freelance foreign policy columnist for the NY Post and the Boston Herald. He has made thousands of appearances on national, local, and international TV and Radio.

Prior to serving in the Bush administration, Dr. Brookes was a professional staff member with the House International Relations Committee. He also served with the CIA and the State Department. In the private sector, he worked in the defense industry.

Prior to beginning his civilian career, Dr. Brookes served in the U.S. navy in aviation and intelligence assignments. Now a retired naval officer with the rank of Commander, while a reservist, he served with the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, Office of Naval Intelligence, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Office of the Vice President.

He holds a doctorate from Georgetown University and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. He received his bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, appointed to Annapolis by the late Congressman Jack Kemp (R-NY).

Dr. Brookes is also an honor graduate of the Defense Language Institute, where he studied Russian, and the Naval War College. He has taught at the National Defense University and was an associate professor at the Joint Military Intelligence College at the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Among his awards and honors are the Navy League of New York's Frank Knox Media Award; Joint Service Commendation Medal; Navy Commendation Medal (three); Navy Achievement Medal; Defense Language Institute's Kellogg Award; Joint Chiefs of Staff service badge; and Naval Aviation Observer wings.