Dr. Doug Ollivant wears many hats: retired U.S. Army officer, national‑security strategist, widely published essayist, professor and now a candidate for public office. Today he serves as Managing Partner of Mantid International while also holding a senior fellowship at New America’s Future of War project. He brings to both roles the unique perspective of someone who has planned combat operations, advised White House principals and written thoughtful critiques of America’s engagement overseas.
Dr. Doug Ollivant, Managing Partner
A career infantry officer, Ollivant spent two tours in Iraq. He served as operations officer for the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment during Operation Iraqi Freedom II, fighting in the battles of Najaf Cemetery and Second Fallujah. In his second tour as chief of plans for Multi‑National Division–Baghdad, he led the team that designed the Baghdad Security Plan—the blueprint for the 2007 “Surge”. His success earned him a call to the National Security Council, where he served as Director for Iraq under both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. After leaving the White House, he spent a year in Afghanistan as the senior counterinsurgency adviser to the commander of Regional Command East
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Doug is more than a battlefield planner. He has long argued that winning irregular wars requires soldiers to live among and partner with local populations—ideas he championed in the influential article “Producing Victory: Rethinking Conventional Forces in Counterinsurgency Operations.” A former assistant professor at West Point, he belongs to the cohort of “warrior‑intellectuals” who bridged the gap between academia and field operations. His essays appear regularly in outlets such as War on the Rocks, and his Substack, “Rappahannock Musings,” ranges from Middle East policy to baseball and homesteading.
Ollivant holds a Ph.D. in political science from Indiana University and is a graduate of the U.S. Army’s School of Advanced Military Studies. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Wheaton College and later completed an MBA at James Madison University. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Political Science Association. Doug frequently appears as a commentator on national and international news networks. When he’s not analyzing geopolitics or advising clients, he’s writing from his family’s small farm along the Rappahannock River in Virginia. In 2026 he stepped into electoral politics, announcing a run for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.