Public Testimony
Testified on civil-military relations before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jan 2021: written testimony and the hearing.
Testified on militarized policing (starts 11:07) before the Joint Meeting of the Courts of Justice and Public Safety Committees of the Virginia General Assembly, 22 Jul 2020.
Testified to the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service in May 2019: written testimony and hearing/oral testimony.
Media Contributions
Article in World Politics Review, 26 May 2021, “Tackling the U.S. Military’s Extremism Problem”.
Article in Lawfare, 2 Nov 2020, “The Election and the Military” with Steve Vladeck.
Article in Political Violence at a Glance, 5 Aug 2020, “Authoritarian Tactics on U.S. Soil” with Danielle Lupton and David Burbach.
Article in the Washington Post: the Monkey Cage, “What’s happening in Portland could hurt civilian control of the military. Here’s how”, with David Burbach and Danielle Lupton. 29 Jul 2020
Featured in Deseret News, “Here are the answers to your questions about what’s happening in Portland” by Erica Evans. 23 Jul 2020
Featured in Politico, “Trump loyalty purge roils Pentagon” by Lara Seligman and Daniel Lippmann. 19 Jun 2020
Featured on WWL, “Have police departments become too militarized?” with Tommy Tucker. 12 Jun 2020
Featured in multiple outlets, “What National Guard Training can tell us about policing protests”, by Victoria Chamberlin. 11 Jun 2020
Interviewed for Battle Rhythm, “America vs. America” with Steve Saideman. 10 Jun 2020
Featured in the Economist, “America’s top brass break with Donald Trump” by Shashank Joshi. 7 Jun 2020
Featured in CBC News, “Why military men pushing back on Trump is an ‘extraordinary’ event in American democracy” by Alexander Panetta. 5 Jun 2020
Featured in the Deseret News, “Why sending in the troops may not solve the problem” by Matthew Brown. 5 Jun 2020
Interviewed for Warcast, “Troops in the streets? The use of the U.S. military domestically” with Doyle Hodges. 4 Jun 2020
Featured in States of Crisis Newsletter, “The inherent vulnerability of living in a federal fiefdom”, by Dan Vock. 4 Jun 2020
Featured in Politico, “’It just doesn’t seem right’: Pentagon officials on edge over military leaders’ dealings with Trump” by Lara Seligman and Bryan Bender. 3 Jun 2020
Featured on the Kojo Nnamdi Show, “Amid protests, National Guardsmen from outside the District deployed into DC”. 3 Jun 2020
Article in the Washington Post: the Monkey Cage, “Yes, Trump can send the military to shut down protests. Here’s what you need to know”. 2 Jun 2020
Featured on the BBC Newsnight, with Mark Urban. 2 Jun 2020
Featured in El Diario, “Trump responde con una mano en la Biblia y otra en el Ejército a la mayor crisis social de EEUU en décadas” by Javier Biosca. 2 Jun 2020
Featured in Vox, “Here’s what the National Guard can and can’t do during the George Floyd uprising”, by Alex Ward. 29 May 2020
Featured in the Washington Post, “Trump pulls military into political fray of Minneapolis unrest but is unlikely to follow through on threat” by Dan Lamothe and Missy Ryan. 29 May 2020
Article in the Washington Post: the Monkey Cage, “This is what was so unusual about the U.S. Navy making Captain Brett Crozier step down” with Alice Hunt Friend and Jim Golby. 5 Apr 2020
Article in the Washington Post: the Monkey Cage, “The U.S. military’s role in the coronavirus response is likely to grow” with Jim Golby. 30 Mar 2020
Article in Political Violence at a Glance, “Militarization of the Police”. 25 Mar 2020
Quoted in Vox, “National Guard troops are deploying to help with the Coronavirus. Here’s what they’re doing” by Alex Ward. 24 Mar 2020
Quoted in the New York Times, “The Interpreter: Did the Killing of Qassim Suleimani Deter Iranian Attacks, or Encourage Them?”, by Amanda Taub. 5 Jan 2020
Quoted in the New York Times, “In Era of Perpetual Conflict, a Volatile President Grabs Expanded Powers to Make War” by Mark Mazzetti. 4 Jan 2020
Interviewed for the You Don't Have to Yell podcast: military recruiting, US national security, and other issues.
Article in War on the Rocks, “What Discord Follows: the divisive debate over military disobedience” with Max Margulies and Michael Robinson. 2 Aug 2019
Featured in two online fora of The National Interest, commenting on US-DPRK relations
Before the Hanoi summit (6 Feb 2019)
After the Hanoi summit (12 Mar 2019)
Referenced in Reihan Salam, “Democrats are Wrong About Defense Spending”, The Atlantic (4 Jan 2019)
Interviewed for Bombshell, a War on the Rocks podcast, on domestic use of federal troops (20 Nov 2018)
Interviewed for War Cast, the War on the Rocks members-only podcast, “The National Guard at the Border” (13 Apr 2018)
Quoted in the Center for a New American Security’s Report, “Generations of War: The Rise of the Warrior Caste and the All-Volunteer Force” by Amy Shafer (2017)
Guest Post on Tom Ricks’s blog The Best Defense, “Some Thoughts on the Problem of Politicians in the National Guard” with Jessica Blankshain
Guest Post on Tom Ricks’s blog The Best Defense, “Desch and Ricks are too Optimistic about the Effects of Budget Cuts on the Military”
Interview “River to River” on Iowa Public Radio Station KUNI, Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014, discussing unrest in Ukraine, dynamics of the Syrian conflict, and Iran-Iraq relations.
Interview “River to River” on Iowa Public Radio Station KUNI, Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014, discussing foreign policy hotspots for 2014 (North Korea, China, Syria).
Interview "River to River: Talk Politics" on Iowa Public Radio Station KUNI, Wednesday June 5, 2013, discussing the appointments of Susan Rice as NSA and Samantha Power as UN Ambassador, developments in Syria, and protests in Turkey.
Interview “River to River” on Iowa Public Radio Station KUNI, Wednesday, Mar 13, 2013, discussing drones and cyberwarfare as well as updates on international security threats.
Interview "River to River: Talk Politics" on Iowa Public Radio Station KUNI, Wednesday September 26, 2012, discussing Obama’s address to the UN, Obama’s and Romney’s speeches at the Clinton Global Initiative, and general issues relating to the international dimensions of the election
Interview on KWWL News Channel 7, Wednesday September 12, 2012, on the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi
Interview "River to River: Talk Politics" on Iowa Public Radio station KUNI, Wednesday, August 1, 2012, comparing Obama and Romney on foreign policy
Interview on KWWL News Channel 7, Thursday June 14, 2012, on the situation in Syria.
Interview “The Exchange: Talk Politics” on Iowa Public Radio station KUNI, Wednesday August 24, 2011, on the situations in Libya and Syria, implications for the US elections, and the future of the region.
Interview “The Exchange: Talk Politics” on Iowa Public Radio station KUNI, Wednesday, March 23, 2011, on the enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya and the President’s authority to make such a decision.
Quoted in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on military recruiting issues, December 13, 2009, "Even in Santa Cruz, Growing Number of People Seek Financial Refuge in the Military", byline Shanna McCord
Quoted in the Christian Science Monitor on military recruiting issues, November 12, 2009, "High Unemployment Means High Military Recruitment", byline Tom A. Peter
Interview “Worldview” on Chicago Public Radio station 91.5 WBEZ, Thursday, October 6, 2005 on the use of the military in domestic law enforcement.
Selected Invited Talks (see home page for more video links)
“I’m From the Government and I’m Here to Help: Public Perceptions of the Use of Coercive State Power”, MIT Security Studies Program Wednesday Seminar Series, 21 Sep 2022
Panel Moderator, The State of the All-Volunteer Force. Fifth Annual All-Volunteer Force Forum: Endless Wars and America’s All-Volunteer Force, Catholic University and William and Mary, 31 Mar 2021
“The Military in American Politics: the election and what comes after”, panel discussion with Risa Brooks and Heidi Urben, Ridgway Center, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public & International Affairs, 28 Oct 2020
Faculty Discussant, “Hitler’s Legionnaires: why modern states recruit foreign soldiers”, Elizabeth Grasmeder’s presentation at TISS New Faces, 23 Oct 2020
“The Institutionalization of Foreign Policy Constraint: Cost Perception and Public Opinion”, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, The Ohio State University, 9-10 Oct 2020
“Posse: Domestic Use of Federal Force and U.S. Civil-Military Relations”, International Relations and Foreign Policy Speakers Series, Colgate University, 24 Sep 2019
“Civil-Military Relations: the Role of the Military in Policy Development”, Panelist, 4th International Symposium on Security and Defense, Naval War College, Lima, Peru, Aug 2018
“Approaches to Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism”, Keynote, Good Governance Africa Authors’ Roundtable on Extremisms in Africa, Johannesburg, SA, Jun 2018
“Emerging Technology and the Future of Force”, Panelist, Future Strategy Forum: the Future of Force, Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Kissinger School of Global Affairs (SAIS), Washington, DC, May 2018
“Is There Too Little Civilian Oversight of the Military?” Panelist, War Studies Conference, Blurred Lines: Civil-Military Relations and Modern War, Modern War Institute, USMA, West Point, NY, Mar 2018
“Who Will Serve? Labor Markets and Military Personnel Policy”, Security Studies Colloquium, Princeton University, NJ, Nov 2017
"Civil-Military Relations", Moderator, Evening Lecture Roundtable with Hon. Janine Davidson and VCNO Bill Moran, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI, Jan 2017
“What are Military Personnel Entitled To?” Panelist, Ethics Symposium, U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI, Nov 2015
“Civil-Military Gaps: What, Why, and So What?” Panelist, In and Out of Uniform: Civil-Military Relations Reconsidered, Watson Institute for International Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, Mar 2015
“Are Targeted Killings Legal?” and “Ethics and the Law of War”, Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark, Feb 2013
“The Use of Torture in the War on Terror” panelist/commentator on the film The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Reaching for Higher Ground: Community after 9/11 series, UNI, Cedar Falls, Feb 2012
“US Foreign Policy: Where to after Afghanistan and Iraq?”, Army ROTC unit, University of Northern Iowa, Apr 2012
“Strategy and Liberty in Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War”, Liberty Fund Conference, San Antonio, TX, Feb 2011
“US Strategy in Afghanistan and Terrorism as an Insurgent Tactic”, Army ROTC unit, University of Northern Iowa, Mar 2010
“Politics, Economics, and Compulsory Military Service”, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Oct 2009
“Integrating an All-Volunteer Force: Perspectives for Germany”, Workshop: From Conscription to All-Volunteer Forces – European Experiences and Lessons for Germany, Bundeswehr University, Munich, Germany, Oct 2008
“Varieties of Capitalism and Outsourcing War”, Colloque: Privatizing National Defense – a Transatlantic Perspective, Centre d’Études et des Recherches Internationales, Paris, France, Nov 2007
“Who Will Serve? National Educational Systems and Military Selection Policies”, Olin Seminar, Harvard University, Nov 2006
Consultant on military accessions policies, NATO Building Military Capability Conference, Brussels, Belgium, Jun 2004