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Professor of Management & Professor of Political Science

Professor Bracken is a leading expert in global competition and the strategic application of technology in business and defense. He has devoted his research and teaching to developing solutions for senior management as it deals with rapidly changing business environments and intense uncertainty.

He designed the new MBA core course on Problem Framing, which has received global recognition. The course shows students how to use scenario techniques and alternative futures to navigate and create new value in a turbulent business environment. A unique feature of Problem Framing is the “scenario design studio” module, which leads students through actually building alternative futures for particular industries.

Bracken also teaches Business, Government, and Globalization, which examines the multinational corporation's strategy under global competition; and Strategy, Technology, and War which develops technology and innovation landscapes for business and defense.

Paul Bracken is rated as the best teacher in Yale's executive education programs. He has taught in corporate programs in the United States and around the world. He is a consultant to private equity funds, accounting, and insurance companies as well as several arms of the U.S. Government.

Bracken often leads business war games for companies and governments facing complex new environments. He has led games on the future of the European asset management industry, US financial services regulation, and strategies of technological competition with China. He leads one-day workshops on “surprise exploitation” for companies faced with radically altered business conditions; as well as special corporate think tank sessions for in-depth analysis of particular challenges.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he serves on the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel, and the Transformation Advisory Group of the U.S. Joint Forces Command.

Before joining the Yale faculty, Professor Bracken was on the senior staff of the Hudson Institute for ten years, where he led the management consulting arm of the Institute. Bracken grew up in Philadelphia, and he enjoys golf, dude ranching, and ham radio.

Selected Books
Strategic Foresight: A Practical Guide to Scenarios and Alternative Futures in Business, forthcoming 

Managing Strategic Surprise: Lessons from Risk Assessment and Risk Management (with I. Bremmer and D. Gordon, ed.), Cambridge University Press, 2008

Fire in the East, The Rise of Asian Military Power and the Second Nuclear Age, HarperCollins, 1999

Selected Articles
"Scholars and Security," Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 8, No. 2, December, 2010 

"Managing to Fail, Why Strategy is Disjointed," The American Interest, Fall, 2007

"Financial Warfare" Orbis, Fall 2007

"Net Assessment: A Practical Guide" Parameters, Spring 2006

"Business War Gaming" Scenario & Strategy Planning, 2001

Education
PhD Yale University, 1982
BS Columbia University, 1971