Mr. James Kitfield

James Kitfield is Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress, and a contributing editor at Atlantic Media, publisher of The Atlantic and National Journal. He was the former senior national security correspondent for National Journal, and has written on defense, national security and foreign policy issues from Washington, D.C. for over two decades, publishing hundreds of magazine features and web stories and reporting from dozens of countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Africa. His reporting from conflict zones such as the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan has won numerous awards.

Mr. Kitfield is the only three-time winner of the prestigious Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, most recently for his first-hand reporting on the Afghan War and other conflicts.  The Military Reporters and Editors Association and the Medill School of Journalism have awarded Mr. Kitfield their top prize for excellence in reporting an unprecedented six times, most recently in the “Online Journalism” category for his articles in POLITICO Magazine, Yahoo News and Breaking Defense. Mr. Kitfield’s feature article in POLITICO Magazine entitled “Afghanistan: The Last Commander” was a finalist in the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) 2022 Dateline Awards, magazine category.

The National Press Club has honored Mr. Kitfield with its Edwin Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence to recognize excellence in reporting on diplomatic and foreign policy issues. Citing Mr. Kitfield’s insightful writing on trans-Atlantic issues, the German Marshall Fund awarded him its Peter R. Weitz Prize for excellence in reporting on European affairs, and Mr. Kitfield is also the recipient of the Stewart Alsop Media Excellence Award, sponsored by the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, for his coverage of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and follow-on events. The White House Correspondents Association awarded Mr. Kitfield an honorable mention in the Edgar A. Poe Awards for coverage of news of national significance, citing his coverage of the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan.

Mr. Kitfield is author of four books on national security themes, most recently “In the Company of Heroes: The Inspiring Stories of Medal of Honor Recipients from America’s Longest Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq” (Hachette Book Group 2021). Mr. Kitfield’s other books include “Twilight Warriors: The Soldiers, Spies & Special Agents Who Are Revolutionizing the American Way of War” (Basic Books, 2016); “War & Destiny: How the Bush Revolution in Foreign and Military Affairs Redefined American Power” (Potomac Books, 2005); and “Prodigal Soldiers: How the Generation of Officers Born of Vietnam Revolutionized the American Style of War” (Simon & Schuster, 1995).  

Mr. Kitfield’s national security reporting and commentary have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, Bloomberg View, National Journal, The National Interest, Newsday, Army Times, Air Force Magazine, The Stars & Stripes, Defense One, Breaking Defense, and other publications. Mr. Kitfield is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia’s Henry Grady School of Journalism.