Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr. (Ph.D. Union Institute), is an award winning professor of political science at Angelo State University and a retired Marine. He was formerly on the faculty at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College (2005–2010) and the Air Command and Staff College (2003–2005). He was an intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1997 until 2003, eventually serving as the senior analyst for Northeast Asia in the Intelligence Directorate (J2) on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. He is the co-author of the recent book (with Anthony N. Celso) Rogue Allies: The Strategic Partnership between Iran and North Korea (Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2025), and has authored or edited eight books on North Korea. He is also the author of more than forty articles in peer-reviewed journals.  A widely sought after expert on North Korean international security issues, Dr. Bechtol has been called on to present commentary to the BBC, CNN, CBC, FOX News, Radio New Zealand, syndicated nationwide radio shows such as POTUS politics on SIRIUS/XM, the John Batchelor show, and several interviews on National Public Radio (to name a few).