Rebeccah L. Heinrichs

Senior Fellow and Director, Keystone Defense Initiative

heinrichs

At A Glance:

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow and director of the Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in US national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence.

Biography

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in US national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence.

Dr. Heinrichs served as a commissioner on the bipartisan Strategic Posture Commission, which was created in the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. She also serves on the US Strategic Command Advisory Group and the National Independent Panel on Military Service and Readiness.

She is an adjunct professor at the Institute of World Politics, where she teaches nuclear deterrence theory, and is also a contributing editor of Providence: A Journal of Christianity and American Foreign Policy.

Dr. Heinrichs earned her doctorate in defense and strategic studies from Missouri State University, where she graduated with distinction. She received her MA in national security and strategic studies from the US Naval War College and graduated with highest distinction from its College of Naval Command and Staff, receiving the Director’s Award for academic excellence. She earned her BA in history and political science from Ashland University in Ohio, was an Ashbrook Scholar, and currently serves as a member of the University's Board of Trustees.

She lives in Virginia with her husband and their five children.

Events
24
February 2025
Past Event
Nonproliferation in Great Power Competition
Featured Speakers:
Yashar Parsie
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Moderator:
Peter Rough
A North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile on March 24, 2022. (Photo by API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
24
February 2025
Past Event
Nonproliferation in Great Power Competition

Experts will discuss the arguments for and against US nonproliferation efforts and why nonproliferation remains a worthy goal.

A North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile on March 24, 2022. (Photo by API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Yashar Parsie
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Moderator:
Peter Rough
16
January 2025
Past Event
An Assessment of the US Nuclear Enterprise with NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby
Featured Speakers:
Jill Hruby
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana transits Puget Sound on February 9, 2023. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian G. Reynolds)
16
January 2025
Past Event
An Assessment of the US Nuclear Enterprise with NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby

Join Hudson for a discussion with Administrator Hruby on the state of America’s nuclear enterprise.

The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Louisiana transits Puget Sound on February 9, 2023. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian G. Reynolds)
Featured Speakers:
Jill Hruby
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
22
October 2024
Past Event
Duty to Deter: American Nuclear Deterrence and the Just War Doctrine
Featured Speakers:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Jeremy Hunt
The Spirit of Pennsylvania B-2 Spirit assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron flies over Edwards Air Force Base, California, prior to landing, July 17. (Air Force photo by Christian Turner)
22
October 2024
Past Event
Duty to Deter: American Nuclear Deterrence and the Just War Doctrine

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs  will discuss her new book Duty to Deter: American Nuclear Deterrence and the Just War Doctrine.

The Spirit of Pennsylvania B-2 Spirit assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron flies over Edwards Air Force Base, California, prior to landing, July 17. (Air Force photo by Christian Turner)
Featured Speakers:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Jeremy Hunt
21
October 2024
Past Event
Relearning Escalation Dynamics to Win the New Cold War
Featured Speakers:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Kyle Balzer
Matthew Costlow
Ryan Tully
A B-1B Lancer sits on the flightline while receiving a post-flight inspection on November 9, 2009. (US Air Force)
21
October 2024
Past Event
Relearning Escalation Dynamics to Win the New Cold War

Rebeccah L. Heinrichs will sit down for a conversation on the path forward for Washington in a new era of strategic competition with the coauthors of Relearning Escalation Dynamics to Win the New Cold War.

A B-1B Lancer sits on the flightline while receiving a post-flight inspection on November 9, 2009. (US Air Force)
Featured Speakers:
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Kyle Balzer
Matthew Costlow
Ryan Tully
A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast of a North Korean military parade showcasing a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles in Seoul on February 9, 2023. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)
Caption
A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast of a North Korean military parade showcasing a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles in Seoul on February 9, 2023. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)
heinrichs
heinrichs
Senior Fellow and Director, Keystone Defense Initiative
Yashar Parsie
Yashar Parsie
Contributor, Keystone Defense Initiative
Reports
Long Read