Book Chapter
(2009). Operation Baton Rouge. In J. Antal (Ed) Attack the Enemy’s Strategy: Lessons from Counterinsurgency Operations. Dallas, TX: Historical Explorations.
Encyclopedia Entries
(2013). Al Qaeda. In Encyclopedia of Military Science. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
(2013). Coalition Provisional Authority. In Encyclopedia of Military Science. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
(2013). Department of the Army. In Encyclopedia of Military Science. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
(2013). Quadrennial Defense Review. In Encyclopedia of Military Science. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Professional Journal Articles
(2013). Special Operations as a Warfighting Function?Armor, 121(5), 31-33.
(2006). Operation Baton Rouge: Perspectives from an Iraqi Security Forces Advisor. Armor, 115(6), 34-38.
(2005). Platoons of Action: An Armor Task Force’s Response to Full-Spectrum Operations in Iraq. Armor, 114(6), 7-12.
- Reprinted (2008), Armor, 117(5), 53-58.
- Reprinted (2007). Armor, 116(2), 43-48.
- Reprinted (2006). Armor, 115(2), 25-30.
(2003). Task Force Steel Tigers (Kosovo). Armor, 112(2), 43-45.
Book Reviews
(2009). Book Review: Enduring the Freedom: A Rogue Historian in Afghanistan, by S.M. Malloney. Armor, 118(3), 50.
(2007). Book Review: Islam and Conflict Resolution: Theories and Practices, by R. Salmi. Armor, 116(3), 50.
(2007). Book Review: Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges, by G. Weimann. Armor, 116(1), 50.
(2006). Book Review: Blueprint for Action: A Future Worth Creating, by T. Barnett. Armor, 115(4), 52.
(2005). Book Review: JAYHAWK! The VII Corps in the Persian Gulf War, by S. Bourque & J. Brown. Armor, 114(6), 52-53.
(2003). Book Review: Nerve Center: Inside the White House Situation Room, by M. Bohn. Armor, 112(5), 24.
(2003). Book Review: Warrior Politics, by R. Kaplan. Armor, 112(1), 52.
(2002). Book Review: China Attacks, by S. Mosher & C. DeVore. Armor, 111(5), 52.
Public Policy Research
(2012). Strategic Defense Review of the Republic of Kosovo. Institute for Advanced Studies: GAP. Prishtina, Kosovo.
Student Research
An abstract and lesson learned is offered for each major paper and project prepared while in graduate school at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. I have refrained from providing the electronic copies as most have been submitted for consideration for publication or support planned research.
(2014) Complex Conflict Analysis. Exploring critical and complex conflict problems analysts are often constrained by worldviews dominated by paradigmatic lenses. Focusing on a complex conflict through dominant paradigmatic lenses blurs understanding of the spectrum of critical political, economic,institutional, or cultural conflict factors. These same lenses are also unable to simultaneously keep in focus complex conflicts factors that span from the interpersonal, to community, society,national, international or global levels of analysis. This essay will examine a complex conflict analysis framework incorporating multiple conflict analysis paradigms across simultaneous levels of conflict. This approach should find convergent and perhaps divergent conflict management methods postured to propose integrated whole of government approaches better informing decision-makers. Lesson learned from this project: As if reaffirming Autesserre’s thesis in the Trouble with the Congo traditional conflict intervention focuses on macro-level conflict factors, my own research did not adequately consider micro-level indicators. I assess this as my sources of information were bounded by this tradition of macro-level analysis.
(2014) Project Proposal: Macedonian Name Dispute Problem Solving Workshop. This informal dialogue will take the form of problem solving workshops conducted over a series of engagements to establish unofficial yet direct exchange between politically influential representatives from conflict parties. Participants, freed from the grip of the stymied diplomatic approach, distant from the direct influence of their capitals, are guided by an independent third-party facilitation team in a dialogue designed to promote change in perceptions and attitudes to build cross-border relationships that can in turn influence the public debate and circulate within the political culture of their respective states. Lesson learned from this project: What is missing from this project proposal is a theory of change that clearly identifies indicators of change in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposal to inform future projects.
(2014) Project Proposal: Kosovo Civil-Military Relations Dialogue. This project proposes a narrative based program that reveals the values, interests, needs, and aspirations uncovering an understanding of Kosovo’s emerging civil-military relations framework and in particular the social contract between the government, its armed forces, and society in the context of a society’s collective experience. To develop an understanding the emerging framework and, if successful, reshape the social contract that reflects a society stretched between multiple nations, it is essential to prepare an environment where a cross-section of local actors participate in facilitated dialogue. The program is designed around intra- and interparty engagements and has four parts, each building on the previous: 1. Pre-conference Narrative Training, 2. Civil Military Relations Forum, 3. Problem Solving Workshop Facilitation Training, 4. Problem-Solving Workshops. Lesson learned from this project: What is missing from this project proposal is a theory of change that clearly identifies indicators of change in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposal to inform future projects.
(2014) Civil-Military Relations in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding. Security sector reform, as seen in on-going international development and peacekeeping operations in Kosovo, is an integral part of post-conflict peacebuilding. Developing, reforming, or strengthening the institutions that promote the legitimacy, governance, and accountability in a state’s civil-military relations – its framework of interrelationship between civil society and the armed forces charged to protect it – are important elements of the transition from conflict to peace. The goal of my research is to understand the social contract between the government, its armed forces, and society in the context of the human experience in Kosovo. My hypothesis is that the declaratory civil-military relations framework in Kosovo’s laws has been imposed only to gain accessions into Euro-Atlantic institutions and does not reflect their cultural, historical, political should advance new approaches to peacebuilding for a country that remains embroiled in conflict.or social identity. An understanding of their culturally conceived civil-military relations model. Lesson learned from this year-long research project: This paper closes recognizing that appropriately and accurately capturing the pervasiveness of cultural symbols that represent the “pale shadows of the [Kosovo Liberation Army]” cast over the KSF and the future armed forces are difficult while reflecting through primary and secondary sources.
(2014) Reflective Practitioner. This paper is a reflection of my January 2014 visit to Israel and Palestine as part of Professor Gopin’s Reflective Practitioner Course. Reflective practice in Israel and Palestine would have me rush across the terrain to a distant objective and conclude that conflict resolution is only attained through personal engagement. Sitting with shopkeepers in the old city of Jerusalem drinking mint tea, coffee, and RC cola, my host reflected on what the Israeli-Palestinian conflict means to them. They were worried about their children growing up with hatred towards Israeli soldiers. They were frustrated with politicians on both sides of the conflict profiting personally from protracting this struggle. Their conclusion was simple yet profound. Peace first has to being within oneself before it can take place outside oneself. Lesson learned: keeping a journal was the key to this reflective experience. Additionally, the interaction with others on my reflection helped challenge the assumptions I held and reinforced positive development experiences.
(2013) The Macedonian Question. For the last twenty years two Balkan nations have been pitted against each other over the claim of an ancient identity. One nation, in its modern identity, established itself an independent state in the aftermath of the fall of Yugoslavia. The other nation, in its modern identity, fought for its independence from the Ottoman Empire. The proclaimed decedents of the kings of Macedon have revived the dispute over the Macedonian Question. That is, who can impose its national identity over the ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse people on the southern Balkan Peninsula. This protracted conflict is at its roots a dispute over a national identity that has been fabricated by both parties; inasmuch, its resolution demands mutual renegotiation of that national identity. To provide an initial framework to map this conflict, Christopher Mitchell’s SPITCEROW conflict mapping model is used. I will concurrently map the elements of this protracted social conflict utilizing social identity theories that explain the development of national identities and boundaries. Framed in this social identity theory perspective, I will propose alternative interventions to those currently employed. Lesson Learned: An initial assessment of the conflict problem is essential in selecting the appropriate conflict analysis tools used to map a conflict and shaping intervention considerations.
(2013) Research Design: Positive Peace Index. The Institute for Economics and Peace has recently released its annual ranking of nations according to their level of peace, the Global Peace Index (GPI). GPI gauges the “measures of both the internal peacefulness of nations as well their external peace in relation to other states.” A six year trend of GPI rankings reveals that the world is less peaceful. Concurrently, the GPI also conducted its’ second Positive Peace Index that measures a nation’s capacity to create and sustain a peaceful environment. However, the list of top twenty five least peaceful countries on the GPI was not concurrently assessed on the Positive Peace Index. Therefore, this study intends to fill the space left by the GPI and Positive Peace Index to better understand the determinants of successful peace implementation for those twenty five least peaceful nations. Lesson Learned: My quantitative research skills need improvement; specifically my inability to conduct time-phased regression analysis hinders my progress.
Pathfinder 