August Cole

August Cole is a writer, analyst and consultant specializing in national security issues. He is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security at the Atlantic Council. He is the director of the Art of Future War project, which explores narrative fiction and visual media for insight into the future of conflict. He is also writer-in-residence at Avascent, an independent strategy and management consulting firm focused on the defense and aerospace sectors. His fiction writing tackles themes at the core of American foreign policy and national security in the 21st Century, including the privatization of military and intelligence operations and the future of American power in the Pacific. August is represented by John Taylor "Ike" Williams and Katherine Flynn of Kneerim, Williams & Bloom. From 2007 to 2010, August reported on the defense industry for the Wall Street Journal. From Washington, he covered companies ranging from Boeing to Blackwater, as well as broader defense policy and political matters. He helped break many major national security stories, including foreign cyber spies hacking into the U.S. Joint Strike Fighter program, major defense contractors doing "Smart Power" development work in Africa, U.S. sales of F-16 fighters to Iraq and a Blackwater civilian shooting incident in Afghanistan. He has discussed his reporting on CNBC, The John Batchelor Show, PRI's The World, To The Point With Warren Olney and NPR's Day to Day. From 1998 to 2006, he worked as an editor and a reporter for MarketWatch.com, a financial news Web site, where he began covering defense issues, including private military contractors. He also has extensive experience writing about the automotive and airline industries, as well as the Internet economy. He was a regular guest on CBS affiliate radio stations around the country, and has appeared as an expert commentator on KPIX TV in San Francisco. August was named to The Journal of Financial Reporting's Top 30 Journalists Under 30 in 2002 and 2003. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master in Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is also a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. August lives in the Boston area, where he is an avid rower and cyclist.