Alice Hunt Friend is a senior fellow in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Ms. Friend is also a doctoral student at American University’s School of International Service, where she focuses on civil-military relations and use-of-force decisionmaking. From 2012 to 2014, she was the principal director for African affairs in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. She joined the Department of Defense in 2009 as special assistant to the under secretary of defense for policy and also served as the senior adviser to the deputy under secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and forces.
“I would say to my younger self: ‘Just dive in. Nobody knows everything; To continue to hold back means that you are going to fall behind.’ I feel like I’m always catching up because I didn’t let myself start sooner.”
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