Alexander Harlan is a research associate at Orion Policy Institute (OPI) and the Assistant Chief of Staff for Maryland State Senator, Chris West. Alexander holds a B.A. in Political Science from the Pennsylvania State University, and a M.S. in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security from the American University School of Public Affairs. His areas of research include counterterrorism, American grand strategy, Russian gray zone warfare, nuclear deterrence, and American elections and local politics. Prior to OPI, Alexander interned in the Defense and Foreign Policy Department of the Cato Institute, assisting scholars on issues ranging from military budgets to Pakistani ontological security. He’s also a first responder and a member of the Pennsylvania State University Correlates of War (PennCOW) group.