Max Boot

Max Boot was born in Moscow on September 12, 1969, and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1976, settling in Los Angeles. He pursued his higher education at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1991. He then obtained a Master of Arts in Diplomatic History from Yale University in 1992. Boot began his career in journalism writing columns for the Berkeley student newspaper, The Daily Californian, and later worked as a writer and editor for The Christian Science Monitor from 1992 to 1994. His early work established a foundation for his subsequent career in national security analysis and historical writing.

Boot transitioned to The Wall Street Journal, where he worked for eight years, initially writing an investigative column on legal issues before being promoted to editor of the op-ed page. In 2002, he joined the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) as the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies, a position he continues to hold. As a fellow, he contributed extensively to discussions on foreign policy, national security, and military affairs, frequently publishing in prominent newspapers and magazines. His work at the CFR has allowed him to combine his historical expertise with contemporary policy analysis.

Throughout his career, Boot has authored several acclaimed books, including “The Savage Wars of Peace” (2002), “War Made New” (2006), “Invisible Armies” (2013), and “The Road Not Taken” (2018), which was a New York Times bestseller and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. His most recent biography, “Reagan: His Life and Legend” (2024), also became a New York Times bestseller and was recognized by multiple publications as one of the best books of the year. He has also been a foreign policy adviser for presidential campaigns and is a weekly columnist for The Washington Post, providing consistent commentary on global events.