William Charles Inboden
Executive Director and William Powers, Jr. Chair, Clements Center for National Security; Associate Professor of Public Affairs
Education
- Ph.D. in History, Yale University
- M.Phil. in History, Yale University
- M.A. in History, Yale University
Research Areas
- National Security Policy and Grand Strategy
- American Presidency and National Security Policy
- Religion, International Religious Freedom and Foreign Policy
Teaching Areas
- Policy Process and Institutions
- International Affairs and Diplomacy
- Intelligence and National Security
William Inboden joined the LBJ School faculty after many years of working as a policymaker in Washington, DC, and directing a foreign policy think tank overseas. He is the William Powers, Jr. executive director of the Clements Center for National Security and a distinguished scholar at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law. He is also a National Intelligence Council associate and is on the CIA Director’s Historical Review Panel.
Dr. Inboden previously served as senior director for strategic planning on the National Security Council, worked on the State Department's Policy Planning Staff and served as a congressional staff member. His think-tank experience includes the American Enterprise Institute and running the London-based Legatum Institute. He is a Council on Foreign Relations life member and a contributing editor to Foreign Policy magazine, and his commentary has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, The Weekly Standard, NPR, CNN and BBC. His classes, Ethics & International Relations and Presidential Decision-Making in National Security, have been selected in recent years as the "Best Class in the LBJ School." His current research includes American grand strategy, a history of Reagan administration national security policy, and a history of totalitarian ideologies and religious intolerance.
Media Expertise
- National Security
- U.S. Foreign Policy
Faculty from the LBJ School of Public Affairs are nationally and internationally recognized scholars and experts across a range of major policy topics, including the 2020 election at the local, state and federal levels. View our 2020 election experts guide below.
Where to watch LBJ School faculty
Pre-election
Friday, Oct. 30: Steven Pedigo joins Fox 7 Austin for a special newscast on Propositions A and B; Airs at approximately 6 p.m. CT
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• September 30, 2020
We are only a few weeks from a historic presidential election. The two candidates will face off on Tuesday, Sept. 29 for the first of three presidential debates, where topics will include: Trump's and Biden's records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in U.S. cities, and the integrity of the election. Assistant Dean for Civic Engagement Dr. Victoria DeFrancesco Soto led a roundtable discussion and analysis of the debate and each candidates' policies and performance with LBJ School and UT faculty.
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In this episode, LBJ's Will Inboden, and author and journalist Craig Fehrman, discuss his book, Author and Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote. In this fascinating conversation, Inboden and Fehrman examine the relationships between presidents and their ghost writers. In addition, they talk about how it is that presidents use these books to advance their political views, careers, and at times, their financial well-being.
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