Bradley F. Podliska

Bradley Florian Podliska (born c. 1974) is an American author and intelligence analyst.

Podliska was motivated to serve in the military by the stories of his grandfathers, both of whom served in World War II. He graduated from University of Wisconsin, where he chaired the College Republicans, and interned with conservative media watchdog Media Research Center. He took all of the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps courses, but found employment with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and joined the Air Force Reserve rather than the Army. In the DoD, Podliska first worked for the Director of Intelligence for the United States Joint Forces Command in Virginia, followed by a stint at the Joint Warfare Analysis Center, and then a one year placement in Germany conducting tactical intelligence for the United States European Command.

He received an M.A. from Georgetown University in 2001, and completed a Ph.D. at Texas A&M University in 2007. He published his doctoral dissertation, Acting Alone: United States Unilateral Uses of Force, Military Revolutions, and Hegemonic Stability Theory. In 2010, the work was revised and reissued under the title Acting Alone: A Scientific Study of American Hegemony and Unilateral Use-of-Force Decision Making. A review of the book by the Air Force Research Institute stated that "Podliska provides valuable insight into why presidents decide to act unilaterally despite the widespread belief that such actions are inherently unpopular", and concluded that "Acting Alone is a valuable contribution to the social science literature on foreign policy decision making", despite weaknesses identified in the review.

In 2008, Podliska served with the 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, then deployed to Iraq as an intelligence officer with the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing. He thereafter returned to the U.S. European Command in Germany, and later returned to Washington, D.C. as a Defense Department analyst. In September 2014, Podliska joined the United States House Select Committee on Benghazi as a staffer for the House Republican members. In October 2015, Podliska, claimed that the purpose of the committee was political, and that he was fired from the Committee in part for not focusing his research on Hillary Clinton.