John Michael "Mike" Dahm

Mike Dahm is a principal analyst at the MITRE Corporation in McLean, Virginia, where his analysis informs U.S. government policy and strategy development. His current focus areas include Indo-Pacific security affairs and challenges presented by China across the spectrum of competition. Prior to joining MITRE, he was a senior national security researcher concentrating on military capabilities and foreign technologies at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. 

Dahm served as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer for over 25 years in several diverse staff and operational assignments including combat tours in the Balkans and Iraq. He has focused on Indo-Pacific security matters since 2006 when he was assigned to the U.S. Pacific Command. From 2012-2015, he was the Assistant Naval Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China. In his final tour, he served as the Senior Naval Intelligence Officer for China at the Office of Naval Intelligence. 

Dahm has taught a graduate course on China’s military capabilities and strategy at the National Intelligence University. He holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California and an M.S. in Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University. He has authored a number of widely cited articles on military issues in the Indo-Pacific, most notably for the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute.