Maj. Gen. William L. Nash

Biography provided by participant

Major General William L. Nash, USA (Ret.) is an adjunct senior fellow for military affairs and director of the military fellows' program at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is also a professorial lecturer at Georgetown University, a visiting lecturer at Princeton University, and a military consultant for ABC News. From April 2001 through June 2007, he was director of CFR's Center for Preventive Action (CPA). As such, he led CFR's efforts to work with governments, international organizations, the business community, and non-governmental organizations to anticipate international crises and to provide analysis and specific recommendations for preventive action. In 2004, he was named CFR's first General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention. Major Nash served thirty-four years in the U.S. Army, retiring in January 1998. He was an armored cavalry platoon leader in Vietnam and an armored brigade commander in Operation Desert Storm, and he commanded the 1st Armored Division from June 1995 to May 1997. Nash has extensive experience in peacekeeping operations, both as a military commander in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1995-1996) and as a civilian administrator for the United Nations in Kosovo (2000).