John Wohlstetter

Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute

John C. Wohlstetter is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute (beg. 2001) and the Gold Institute for International Strategy (beg. 2021). His primary areas of expertise are national security and foreign policy, and the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He is author of Sleepwalking With The Bomb (2nd ed. 2014), and The Long War Ahead and The Short War Upon Us (2008). He was founder and editor of the issues blog Letter From The Capitol (2005-2015). His articles have been published by The American Spectator, National Review Online, Wall Street Journal, Human Events, Daily Caller, PJ Media, Washington Times and others. He gave over 1,000 radio interviews (2008-2015), many on nationwide programs, and guest-hosted the August 14, 2013 Dennis Miller Show. He was the subject of a cover story in the May 2022 edition of the subscription newspaper Charleston Mercury: A Talk with John Wohlstetter: Nuclear Threat, Beethoven and N.Y. Pizza.

He worked on the international securities arbitrage trading desks at Goldman Sachs (1969-73) & Drexel Burnham Lambert (1973-74). As an attorney for Contel Corp. (1978-91), he practiced corporate and communications law, then turned to strategic assessment, a task he continued at GTE Corp. (1991-2000) & Verizon, retiring in 2000. During his tenure at Contel he served as senior adviser to The Committee on Review of Switching, Synchronization and Network Control in National Security Telecommunications (1986-1989). Created by the National Research Council, it published its final report, Growing Vulnerability of the Public Switched Networks: Implications for National Security Emergency Preparedness, in 1989.

He holds degrees from the University of Miami (B.B.A., 1969, Finance major, Art History minor); Fordham University School of Law (J.D., 1977); and The George Washington University (M.A., Public Policy/Telecommunications, 1985). He is a National Trustee of the National Symphony Orchestra (beg. 2014), and served on the NSO Board (1992-2014). He serves on the Board of the Billy Rose Foundation (beg. 1996). He served as a trustee of MyFace (1980-2016), and the Washington Bach Consort (2002-2018). He also served on the Boards of the Hudson Institute (2000-2012), the Harbor League (2009-2012) and the London Center for Policy Research (2013-2018), where he also was a senior fellow.

He is an amateur concert pianist, residing in Charleston, South Carolina.

Archives

Time Travel Travail

Can America 'Leap Forward' Forever?
The year-round DST bill’s chances in the 118th Congress may hinge on whether people in the fall hate four months of afternoon darkness more than they love an extra hour’s pre-dawn slumber. 

Russia Then & Now: A Tale of Two Visits

Part I: 1985 In 1985 I spent 13 days in Russia — then officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), but which I will call Russia for reader convenience. I traveled with 100 others, under the august auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. After 32 years and countless tectonic intervening events, I recently returned to what — no surprise — Read More ›

Obama’s Palestine Punchout

It is possible that President Obama actually believes that his 11th hour Mideast madness at the UN — stealthily coordinated with the Palestinians, according to Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu; initiated by the U.S., according to the Egyptians — will foster peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is so delusional that if his belief is in fact honest it is arguably even Read More ›

2016: The West’s Last Chance — Last Gasp?

Will it defend itself or not?
Behold recent developments: the moral inversion elevating Hamas over Israel, skewered by Dennis Prager (4:12); the fascism of militant Islam; insanely strict rules of engagement that tie our hands in battle; Miss Puerto Rico suspended from the Miss Universe pageant for an anti-Muslim online rant; rampant political correctness describing as “peaceful or moderate” Muslims who take offense at those who link Islam to terrorism; the government questioning the loyalty of an Read More ›

‘New York Values’: Cruz, Trump and History

The spirited exchange between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz on what constitutes “New York values” was a high point of the Charleston Republican debate. Trump won the televised exchange, citing the Big Apple’s heroic response to the atrocities of September 11, 2001. The normally articulate Cruz was unable to effectively respond, despite knowing in advance of the debate that Trump had assailed Cruz’s off-the-cuff Read More ›

Sinatra Turns 100: ‘Ring-A-Ding Ding!”

Someone like him comes along just once in a lifetime
Amidst the horrific news all over the globe, this holiday season has been a time to count our blessings, and pray for better days ahead for all civilized humanity and for deliverance from atavist barbarism. This season brings us the gift of Francis Albert Sinatra (1915–1998), in the marking of his birth centennial. Nearly seven years ago I penned a TAS article, Awaiting Read More ›

Will Our Values Make Us Seek Peace With Genocide?

This is what the “peace process” in the Middle East has led to
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hitler got the idea of perpetrating the Holocaust from Haj Amin al-Husseini, as Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from 1922 to 1948 spiritual leader of the Arabs in Palestine, he predictably ignited a firestorm. In fact, as this Israel Network video (4:56) shows, the mufti’s role in the Nazi genocidal enterprise was that of eager collaborator Read More ›

Actually, the Wimpy Thing Would Have Been for GOP Candidates to Put Up with Biased Debate Moderators

The substantiveness of the Fox Business/Wall Street Journal GOP presidential debate Tuesday night gave the lie to media complaints that the presidential candidates had been seeking to turn the GOP debates into toothless Safe Spaces. After the CNBC debate, with its unabashedly biased moderation job, several candidates held a post-debate meeting and proposed new rules, including a 67-degree temperature stage, no Read More ›

Rocks on Rosh Hashanah: Golda Was Right

Hating Jews remains the Palestinians’ only priority
Begin with yesterday’s bombshells: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave a 40-minute address to the UN General Assembly. He declared Palestine a state — a statement of zero legal effect but of political significance. He announced that: (a) September 30 would henceforth be known (to Palestinians) as Palestinian Flag Day; (b) the Palestinians were no longer bound by the Oslo Accords. Specifically, Abbas Read More ›