Dr. Bernard D. Cole
Professor of International History
The National War College
Dr. Bernard D. Cole is Professor of International History at the National War College in Washington, D.C., where he concentrates on Sino-American relations, the Chinese military, and Asian energy issues. He previously served 30 years as a Surface Warfare Officer in the Navy, all in the Pacific. He commanded USS Rathburne (FF 1057) and Destroyer Squadron 35, served as a Naval Gunfire Liaison Officer with the Third Marine Division in Vietnam, Surface Operations Officer for CTF 70/77, as Plans Officers for Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet, and as special assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations for Expeditionary Warfare.
Dr. Cole's first book, Gunboats and Marines: The U.S. Navy in China, was published by the University of Delaware Press; The Great Wall at Sea: China's Navy Enters the 21st Century, was published in October 2001 by the Naval Institute Press; Oil for the Lamps of China: Beijing's 21st Century Search for Energy was published by the NDU Press in November 2003; An Island Adrift: Taiwan’s Security Dilemma, will be published in early 2006. Dr. Cole earned an A.B. in History from the University of North Carolina, an M.P.A. (National Security Affairs) from the University of Washington, and a Ph.D. in History from Auburn University.