Keith B. Payne, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus

Professional Experience

National Institute for Public Policy, 1981-Present

  • President and Co-Founder

Missouri State University

  • Professor Emeritus, July 2019 - Present
  • Professor and Department Head, Graduate Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, 2005 - June 2019

Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University, National Security Studies Program School of Foreign Service, 1984-2005

Department of Defense Co-chairman, Deterrence Concepts Advisory Group (DoD), 2001-2002

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Forces Policy, 2002-2003

  • Head of U.S. delegation in numerous allied consultations on missile defense and nuclear policy;
  • Head of U.S. delegation, “Working Group Two” negotiations on BMD cooperation with the Russian Federation;
  • Responsible for implementation of the 2001 Nuclear Posture Review;
  • Contributed to formulation of U.S. position on the 2002 Moscow Treaty;
  • Office responsible within DoD for the rollout of the 2002 Missile Defense Deployment Program.

Special Federal Government Employee, 2005-2017

  • Chairman, U.S. Strategic Command’s Senior Advisory Group, Policy Panel

Additional Professional Experience

  • Testified before  U.S. Senate and House Committees on 30 occasions;
  • Testified before the British House of Lords and House of Commons on two occasions
  • Editor-in-Chief, Comparative Strategy: An International Journal, 1992-2018
  • Contributor, “Rumsfeld Study” on missile proliferation, 1998
  • Commissioner, bi-partisan Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, 2008-2009
  • Member, Secretary  of State’s International Security Advisory Board, 2007-2009
  • Consultant, White  House Office of Science and Technology Policy, 1985-1986
  • Consultant, Arms  Control and Disarmament Agency, 1981-1982
  • Participant in numerous Defense Science Board and Department of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee studies

Dr. Payne has lectured on defense and foreign policy issues at numerous colleges and universities in North America, Europe, and Asia.  He is the author, co-author, or editor of  over one hundred published articles and seventeen books and monographs.  His most recent book is entitled, The Great American Gamble:  Deterrence Policy and Theory from the Cold  War to the Twenty-First Century (2008).  Dr. Payne’s articles have appeared in many major U.S., European and Japanese  professional journals and newspapers.

Awards

  • Distinguished Public Service Medal, Department of Defense, 2003.
  • Under Dr. Payne’s leadership, Forces Policy office recipient of Joint Meritorious Unit Award, awarded 2003.
  • Vicennial Medal, Georgetown University, 2005.

Education: Ph.D., University of Southern California, International Relations, With Distinction, 1981; A.B., University of California at Berkeley,  Political Science, Honors, 1976.