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He is the Assistant Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies. He is also the Senior Research Fellow at the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies of The Heritage Foundation.

Recognizing that the war against terrorism will be a protracted conflict, Carafano's research focuses on developing the national security that the nation needs to secure the long-term interests of the United States - protecting its citizens, providing for economic growth, and preserving civil liberties.

An accomplished historian and teacher, Carafano was an Assistant Professor at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and served as Director of Military Studies at the Army's Center of Military History. He also taught at Mount Saint Mary College in New York and served as a Fleet Professor at the U.S. Naval War College. He is a Visiting Professor at the National Defense University and Georgetown University.

Carafano is the author of several military books, history books and studies. His latest is Private Sector/Public Wars: Contracting in Combat-Iraq, Afghanistan and Future Conflicts, a rigorous study of the role of contractors on the battlefield and their impact on military effectiveness and civil society.

As an expert on defense, intelligence, and homeland security issues, he has testified before the U.S. Congress and has provided commentary for ABC, BBC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, MSNBC, NBC, SkyNews, PBS, National Public Radio, the History Channel, Voice of America, Al Jazeera, and Australian, Austrian, Canadian, French, Greek, Hong Kong, Irish, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish television. His editorials have appeared in newspapers nationwide including The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, The New York Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, USA Today and The Washington Times.

Before becoming a policy expert, he served 25 years in the Army, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During his service, Carafano served in Europe, Korea, and the United States and was head speechwriter for the Army Chief of Staff, the service's highest-ranking officer. Before retiring, he was Executive Editor of Joint Force Quarterly, the Defense Department's premiere professional military journal.

A graduate of West Point, Carafano also has a master's degree and a doctorate from Georgetown University and a master's degree in strategy from the U.S. Army War College.