James Holmes is an associate professor of strategy at the Naval War College, Newport, RI, a faculty affiliate of the College's China Maritime Studies Institute, and a senior research fellow at the Center for International Trade and Security, where he served as a senior research associate from 2002-2007. A former naval officer and Desert Shield/Storm combat veteran, he served in the engineering and weapons departments in the battleship Wisconsin, taught engineering at the Surface Warfare Officers School Command, and served on the military faculty at the Naval War College. He was a staff international-affairs columnist for the Athens Banner-Herald from 2001-2007.

James's work has appeared in numerous scholarly, professional, and news outlets, ranging from the Nonproliferation Review to Naval History. He has published four books: Theodore Roosevelt and World Order: Police Power in International Relations (Potomac, 2006); Chinese Naval Strategy in the 21st Century: The Turn to Mahan (Routledge, 2007, co-authored with Toshi Yoshihara); Asia Looks Seaward: Power and Maritime Strategy (Praeger, 2007, co-edited with Toshi Yoshihara); and Nuclear Security Culture: From National Best Practices to International Standards (IOS Press, 2007, co-edited with Igor Khripunov and Nikolay Ischenko). Under contract are a co-authored volume titled Eagle and the Dragon: U.S. Maritime Strategy in Asia (Naval Institute Press) and a co-authored volume titled Indian Maritime Strategy in the 21st Century (Routledge).

He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vanderbilt University (B.A., mathematics and German) and earned graduate degrees from Salve Regina University (M.A., international relations), Providence College ( M.A., mathematics), and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (M.A.L.D. and Ph.D., international law and diplomacy). He was the top graduate in his class at the Naval War College, earning the Naval War College Foundation Award.