General David Petraeus is a retired United States Army general and widely respected as a leading warrior intellectual. He is currently a Partner in a major investment firm and chairs that firm's Global Institute. He previously served for 37 years in the US Army, culminating his time in uniform with 6 consecutive commands as a general officer. Following a Senate confirmation by a vote of 94-0, he served as Director of the CIA.

Andrew Roberts is a biographer and historian of international renown whose books include The Storm of War (winner of the British Army Book Prize), Napoleon the Great (winner of the Grand Prix of the Fondation Napoléon and the Los Angeles Times Biography Prize) and George III. He is currently Visiting Professor at the Department of War Studies at King's College, London, and the Roger and Martha Mertz Visiting Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.