David M. Cattler is a Senior Fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security Program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). He is a senior transatlantic security leader with more than 35 years of experience across the US government, NATO, and the Intelligence Community. His work has focused on strengthening alliance cohesion, integrating intelligence across institutions, and advancing resilience in an era of strategic competition.

Most recently, he served as Director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), where he led a $3.2 billion global enterprise responsible for safeguarding the US government’s trusted workforce and defense industrial base. During his tenure, he drove enterprise modernization and strengthened counterintelligence and risk management frameworks amid intensifying geopolitical competition.

Previously, Cattler served as NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security—the Alliance’s senior-most intelligence official—where he integrated the work of more than 80 intelligence and security services across 32 nations. He enhanced NATO’s strategic warning capabilities, strengthened resilience against hybrid threats, and improved the Alliance’s ability to translate intelligence into coordinated political and military action.

He also served at the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President for Regional Affairs. He held senior leadership roles in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Joint Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the US Navy.

Following federal service, Cattler leads a portfolio of advisory and board roles focused on defense industrial resilience, dual-use innovation, and the strategic implications of emerging technologies for the Euro-Atlantic community. He writes and speaks regularly on alliance strategy, defense, and technology innovation, as well as the evolving character of conflict.

He has received national honors from Estonia, Ukraine, and Poland—including the highest decorations awarded to non-citizens—as well as ministerial commendations from Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine for his contributions to transatlantic security.

Cattler is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and Georgetown University and was an MIT Seminar XXI Fellow.