Richard M. Harrison

Richard Harrison is the Vice President of Operations, Director of the Defense Technology Program, and co-Director of the Space Policy Initiative at the American Foreign Policy Council (AFPC). He currently serves as managing editor of AFPC's Defense Dossier e-journal, which covers national security and defense issues, architect and program manager of the Strategic Primer initiative, and as editor of AFPC's Defense Technology Monitor e-bulletin. Harrison runs a briefing series on Capitol Hill to educate Congressional Staff on defense technology issues affecting U.S. national security. He is also responsible for managing AFPC research fellows and interns, planning foreign delegations, and overseeing all internal events and business support services for the organization.

Harrison is co-author of Space Shock: 18 Threats That Will Define Space Power (Armin Lear Press, October 2025) and The Next Space Race: A Blueprint for American Primacy (Praeger, April 2023). He is also co-editor of Cyber Insecurity: Navigating the Perils of the Next Information Age (Rowman and Littlefield, October 2016), an edited volume on cybersecurity policy. His writings have appeared in Defense News, The Hill, Jane's Defence Weekly, The Journal of International Security Affairs, The National Interest, Newsweek, Real Clear Defense, USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, and The Washington Times, among others. He has served as co-chair of the Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP) Cybersecurity Policy and Technology Discussion Group.

Harrison completed his Master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and he also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Penn State University and a language certificate in elementary Mandarin Chinese from Peking University. Previously, he worked at Lockheed Martin where he functioned as a systems engineer.