Carl W. Ford, Jr. (born 1943) is an American political scientist, consultant, defense administrator, and Asian specialist originally from Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Beginning in early 1989, Carl Ford spent four years working in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD).

In 1993, Ford established Ford and Associates, his own international consulting firm in Washington, D.C. to provide strategic and tactical advice to American companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon doing business with the militaries of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

He was also directly involved in crafting policy related to the war on terrorism, the Iraq War and reconstruction, and issues regarding the Chinese military, nuclear proliferation, the Middle East peace process, and the North Korean military threat.

He served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he led a seminar on Executive Branch decision-making, and taught a graduate course on intelligence theory and practice at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.