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Jordan Tama Professor SIS | Foreign Policy & Global Security

Contact
Jordan Tama
(202) 885-2332 (Office)
SIS | Foreign Policy & Global Security
4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW 309
https://calendly.com/jordantama/office-hours
Additional Positions at AU
Faculty Fellow, Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies
Principal, Bridging the Gap
Degrees
PhD, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University; MPA, International Relations, Princeton University; B.A., Williams College

Bio
Dr. Jordan Tama specializes in the politics, institutions, and tools of U.S. foreign and national security policy making. His research has investigated polarization and bipartisanship, presidential-congressional relations, the use of economic sanctions, public and elite attitudes on foreign policy, national security strategic planning, independent commissions, and efforts to connect research and policy making on international issues.

Dr. Tama's publications include five books: Bipartisanship and US Foreign Policy: Cooperation in a Polarized Age (Oxford University Press, 2024); Polarization and US Foreign Policy: When Politics Crosses the Water's Edge, co-edited with Gordon M. Friedrichs (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024); Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations, Sixth Edition, co-edited with James A. Thurber (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018); Terrorism and National Security Reform: How Commissions Can Drive Change During Crises (Cambridge University Press, 2011); and A Creative Tension: The Foreign Policy Roles of the President and Congress, co-authored with Lee H. Hamilton (Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2002). He has also authored numerous articles and policy reports; delivered talks in a dozen countries; and conducted many media interviews.

Dr. Tama is a leader in efforts to connect scholars to policy makers and convey policy-relevant research to public audiences. He is a Principal at Bridging the Gap and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. His work has been supported by the American Political Science Association, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, IBM Center for the Business of Government, Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, National Science Foundation, Raymond Frankel Foundation, Social Science Research Center, and Woodrow Wilson Center.

Dr. Tama has served as a fellow on the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the U.S. House of Representatives, a foreign policy speechwriter to former U.S. Representative Lee Hamilton, and a national security advisor to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
See Also
Jordan Tama's personal website
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request. Explore all AU Faculty Experts in our media guide.

Teaching

Spring 2025

  • SIS-899 Doctoral Dissertation

Fall 2025

  • SIS-899 Doctoral Dissertation

  • SISG-770 Topics in US For Pol/Natl Sec: Making USFP: Inst/Procs/Pols

  • SISU-330 Topics in Foreign Pol/Natl Sec: U.S. Grand Strategy