S. Paul Kapur is a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and a visiting fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. From 2020-2021, Kapur served on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, working on issues related to South and Central Asia, Indo-Pacific strategy, and U.S.-India relations. Previously, he was on the faculties of the U.S. Naval War College and Claremont McKenna College, and he was a visiting professor at Stanford University. His research and teaching interests include the international security environment in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific, nuclear weapons proliferation, deterrence, and Islamist militancy. Kapur is author of Jihad as Grand Strategy: Islamist Militancy, National Security, and the Pakistani State (Oxford University Press, 2016); Dangerous Deterrent: Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Conflict in South Asia (Stanford University Press, 2007); and co-author of India, Pakistan and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia (Columbia University Press, 2010). His articles have appeared in leading journals such as International Security, Security Studies, Asian Survey, Washington Quarterly, and in a variety of edited volumes. Kapur also manages a number of consultancy and engagement projects for the U.S. Department of Defense. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and his B.A. from Amherst College.