Dr. Ben Freeman is the Director of the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft where his team works to expose how special interests and foreign governments are influencing U.S. public policy. This work builds upon his book, The Foreign Policy Auction, which was the first book to systematically analyze the foreign influence industry in the U.S. Dr. Freeman is also a lecturer on the U.S. defense budget and other topics with the Institute for Defense and Business. Prior to joining the Quincy Institute, Dr. Freeman was the Director and founder of the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative, at the Center for International Policy. His team investigated lobbying and influence operations of more than a dozen countries, analyzed foreign funding of think tanks, and helped to shape U.S. public policy to improve transparency of foreign influence in America. Prior to launching the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative, Dr. Freeman was the Deputy Director of the National Security program at the think tank, Third Way, where he was an expert U.S. defense budget analyst. Prior to Third Way, he was the National Security Fellow at the Project On Government Oversight, a non-partisan government watchdog that works to expose waste in U.S. military spending.Dr. Freeman earned his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, where he also taught in the Political Science Department and the Bush School of Government and Public Policy. His work has appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and he has testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Specialties: foreign influence oversight, the politics of national security, political messaging, public opinion, political consulting, the defense budget, international relations, foreign policy, research methods, political analysis, and analytics.Author of the Foreign Policy Auction (buy it here - http://amzn.to/NVds4v).