Sean Barnett is an adjunct engineer at RAND. He is a defense analyst, nuclear engineer, and attorney, with over 35 years of experience leading research in the fields of national security, energy, and law. At RAND, his work mostly involves military operational assessments and wargaming. Specific projects have concerned foreign SOF capabilities, the Russia-Ukraine war, development of the DoD Joint Warfighting Concept, potential conflicts with Russia, China, and North Korea, Army combat system requirements, theater-level combat modeling, Army personnel screening, and Department of Homeland Security requirements development. Barnett has been involved with wargaming for many years and leads and supports RAND wargaming efforts across multiple theaters and potential conflicts.
Before RAND, he was a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses. There, he led research for the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security focused on strategic planning, military force structure and basing, strategic materials, and homeland defense. Before working at IDA, he practiced administrative law at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. He focused on nuclear energy regulation and facility licensing matters before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the federal courts.
Barnett has over 90 professional publications, including several in peer-reviewed journals. He co-authored a book on the potential impact of alternative technologies on the battle of Gettysburg and wrote short books of wargaming scenarios centered on the World War II battles of Villers-Bocage and Operation Epsom. He speaks occasionally at conferences on topics related to wargaming and military history.
Barnett received his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT.
B.S. in nuclear engineering, Purdue University; Ph.D. in nuclear engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; J.D. in law, Georgetown University Law Center
