Gordon Adams is a professor of international relations at American University's School of International Service and is a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center. From 1993 to 1997, he was the senior White House budget official for national security.
President Donald Trump and Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, bow their heads in prayer before the start of a Cabinet meeting of the White House in Washington on Aug. 18. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN-OCTOBER 31: USAID blankets being distributed by Mercy Corps are about to be loaded onto trucks at Chaklala airport October 31,2005 in Rawalpindi, Islamabad surrounded by relief goods waiting to be distributed. The current death toll is now believed to be over 55,000 from the South Asian earthquake that happened over 3 weeks ago. Over 3 million people are still without proper shelter and aid organizations including the U.N are warning that thousands could die in remote mountainous regions as Winter approaches. Atleast 1,400 died in Indian-Kashmir.
(photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 4: U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) meets with retired General James Mattis on January 4, 2017 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. General Mattis is President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense. (Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)
BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, NJ - NOVEMBER 19: President-elect Donald Trump walks out with retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis after a meeting at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Bedminster Township, N.J. on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - DECEMBER 15: Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump (L) and Jeb Bush (R) repond to each other as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) listens during the CNN Republican presidential debate on December 15, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the last GOP debate of the year, with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) gaining in the polls in Iowa and other early voting states and Donald Trump rising in national polls. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
ALEPPO, SYRIA - JANUARY 27: Syrians try to get warm after after they moved to Al-Bab district because of the Russian and Assad Regime forces attacks in Aleppo, Syria on January 27, 2016. The ongoing Syrian civil war has left more than 250,000 people dead and has turned the country into the worlds single-largest source of refugees and displaced 100.000 persons, according to UN figures. (Photo by Ahmed Muhammed Ali/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
French policemen patrol next to the makeshift memorial made up with flowers, candles and messages, on November 17, 2015, at the Place de la Republique square in Paris, in tribute to the victims of the attacks claimed by Islamic State which killed at least 129 people and left more than 350 injured on November 13 in Paris. AFP PHOTO / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD (Photo credit should read KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 14: Workers work on an elevator shaft in front of the U.S. Capitol during construction of The Capitol Visitor Center December 14, 2004 in Washington, DC. The new center will include space for security, exhibits, food services, two orientation theaters, an auditorium, gift shops, a service tunnel for truck loading and deliveries, mechanical facilities and storage. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Real estate tycoon Donald Trump (R) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (L) arrive on stage for the Republican presidential primary debate on August 6, 2015 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)
