Status
Associate Professor

Department
National Security Affairs

Contact
jarussel@nps.edu

Curriculum Vitae
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Research Interests
Politics and security in the Gulf States; U.S. security strategy in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East; Nuclear strategy; Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; Transnational terrorist networks, transformation and defense strategy.

Biography
James A. Russell serves as Associate Professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at NPS, where he is teaching courses on Middle East security affairs, terrorism, and national security strategy.

His articles and commentaries have appeared in a wide variety of media and scholarly outlets around the world. His commentaries have appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Jose Mercury News and he has been interviewed as a subject matter expert on NPR’s All Things Considered and Newsweek’s “On Air” series.

His latest articles are, “Strategic Stability Reconsidered: Prospects for Escalation and Nuclear War in the Middle East,” IFRI Proliferation Papers, Spring 2009; “Illicit Procurement Networks and Nuclear Proliferation: Challenges for Intelligence, Detection, and Interdiction” (with Jack Boureston), St. Anthony’s International Review 4, No. 2, Spring 2009. His latest book (ed. with Daniel Moran) is Energy Security and Global Politics: The Militarization of Resource Management (New York: Routledge, 2009).

From 1988-2001, Mr. Russell held a variety of positions in the Office of the Assistant Secretary Defense for International Security Affairs, Near East South Asia, Department of Defense. During this period he traveled extensively in the Persian Gulf and Middle East working on U.S. security policy. He holds a Master’s in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D.  in War Studies from the University of London.

Publications

Books

• James A. Russell, Innovation, Transformation, and War: Counterinsurgency Operations in Anbar and Ninewa Provinces, Iraq, 2005-2007 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2011).
• James A. Russell, ed. (with Daniel J. Moran), Energy Security and Global Politics: The Militarization of Resource Management (New York: Routledge/Global Security Studies, September 2008).
• James A. Russell, ed. (with James J. Wirtz), Globalization and WMD Proliferation: Terrorism, Transnational Networks and International Security (New York: Routledge, December 2007).
• James A. Russell, ed., Critical Issues Facing the Middle East: Security, Politics, and Economics (New York: Palgrave Macmillan Initiatives in Strategic Studies: Issues and Policies, June 2006).
• James A. Russell, ed., Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the Middle East, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan Initiatives in Strategic Studies: Issues and Policies, February 2006).

Articles, Monographs, and Chapters

•  Project Advanced Systems and Concepts for Countering Report No. 2012 012. Illicit Trafficking Challenges: Fighting the Good Fight Against Illicit Trafficking Networks by James Russell and Jack Boureston. Monterey, CA: October 2012.
• “Innovation in War: Counterinsurgency Operations in Anbar and Ninewa Provinces, Iraq, 2005-2007,” Journal of Strategic Studies 33, No. 4 (August 2010): 595-64.
• “Extended Deterrence, Security Guarantees and Nuclear Weapons: US Strategic and Policy Conundrums in the Gulf,” Perspectives on Extended Deterrence, Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique, Recherches & Documents No. 03/2010.
• “Environmental Security and Regional Stability in the Persian Gulf,” Middle East Policy XVI, No. 4 (Winter 2009): 90-101.
• “Illicit Nuclear Procurement Networks and Nuclear Proliferation: Challenges for Intelligence, Detection, and Interdiction,” STAIR (St. Antony's International Review) 4, No. 2 (2009): 4-50 (with Jack Boureston).
• “Strategic Stability Reconsidered: Prospects for Escalation and Nuclear War in the Middle East,” Proliferation Papers 26 (Spring 2009).
• “Nuclear Proliferation in the Persian Gulf and Middle East,” Contemporary Security Policy 29, No. 3 (December 2008): 521-537.
• “Charting U.S. Security Strategy in the Persian Gulf,” in Great Powers and Regional Orders: The United States and the Persian Gulf, Markus Kaim, ed. (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2008)
• “Regional Threats and Security Strategy: The Troubling Case of Today’s Middle East,” Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA, November 2007.
• "Whither Regional Security in a World Turned Upside Down," Middle East Policy XIV, No. 2 (Summer 2007): 141-148.
• “Ideas and Foreign Policy: The Future of U.S. Relations with the Middle East,” Europe and the Gulf, Instituto Per GLI Studi di Politica Internatzionale, Milan Italy, May 2007.
• "Pouring More Arms into Iraq Risks Regional Conflagration," San Jose Mercury News, January 21, 2007.
• "Peering into the Abyss: Non-State Actors and the 2016 Proliferation Environment," Nonproliferation Review 13, No. 3 (November 2006).
• “Commentary: Serious or Not on Iraq War?” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 27, 2006.
• “Ideas and Foreign Policy: The Future of U.S. Relations with the Middle East,” Italian Institute For International Political Studies, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy. Forthcoming in June 2006.
• “Betting the 2006 Trifecta: Prospects for the United States in Iraq,” Gulf Defence Yearbook, Gulf Research Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Forthcoming in April 2006.
• “Transformation into What and Against Whom? The United States Navy and the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review,” World Defence Systems 9, No. 1 (March 2006), Centre For Defence Studies, Kings College, University Of London.
• “Maritime Security in the Gulf: Addressing the Terrorist Threat,” Security & Terrorism Research Bulletin, No. 2, Gulf Research Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 2006.
• "Saudi Arabia in the 21st Century: A New Security Dilemma," Middle East Policy XII, No. 3 (Fall 2005), 64-78.
• "Strategy, Security, and War in Iraq: The United States and the Gulf in the 21st Century," Cambridge Review of International Affairs 18, No. 2 (July 2005).
• "A Hard Day’s Night? The United States and the Global War on Terrorism," Comparative Strategy 24: 127–151, 2005 (with Thomas H. Johnson).
• "Nuclear Strategy and the Modern Middle East," Middle East Policy XI, No. 3 (Fall 2004), 98-117.
• "Strategic Implications of the Iraq Insurgency," Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) 8, No. 2 (June 2004), 48-55.
• "United States Nuclear Strategy on the Twenty-first Century," Contemporary Security Policy 25, No. 1 (April 2004), 91-108 (with Jim Wirtz).
• "Searching for a Post-Saddam Regional Security Architecture," Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) 7, No. 1 (March, 2003), 23-37.
• "Viewpoint: U.S. Policy on Preventive War and Premption," The Nonproliferation Review, Spring 2003, 113-123 (with Jim Wirtz).
• "A Quiet Revolution: Nuclear Strategy for the 21st Century," Joint Forces Quarterly (JFQ), Winter 2002–03, 7-14.

Book Reviews

• Stephen Biddle, Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle in Journal of Cold War Studies 9, No. 4 (Fall 2007): 125–178.
• Michael Knights, Cradle of Conflict: Iraq and the Rebirth of the Modern U.S. Military in The Journal of Middle East Studies 39 (2007).
• Daryl Press, Calculating Credibility: How Leaders Assess Military Threats in Contemporary Security Policy, December 2006.
• Dominick Jenkins, The Final Frontier: America, Science and Terror, in Political Science Quarterly, Spring 2003.
• David Arbel and Ran Edelist, Western Intelligence and the Collapse of the Soviet Union 1980–1990 (London: Frank Cass, 2003).
• Ivan Eland, Putting “Defense” Back into U.S. Defense Policy, in Political Science Quarterly, Summer 2002.
• Max Boot, The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power (New York: Basic Books, 2002).

Lectures and Presentations

• Reacting to War Drums in the Gulf: A Conversation with James Russell, Saudi-US Relations Information Service (SUSRIS), March 28, 2012
• Innovation and War: Military Operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Operational Adaptation Conference (OAC) 2010, University of Edinburgh, June 24, 2010
• Innovation in War: Military Operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, CENTCOM, April 10, 2010
• “The United States, Extended Deterrence, and Security Guarantees in the Gulf Region,” FRS Workshop on the Future of Extended Deterrence, Paris, November 16, 2009.
• “Saudi External Relations in the 21st Century,” Seminar on Saudi Arabia for Ambassador-Designate James Smith, Meridian International Center, Washington DC, September 2, 2009.
• “Cultures At & In War: 172nd SBCT TF COIN Operations in Mosul, 2005-2006,” Conference on Culture, Cultural Modeling, Counterinsurgency and Conflict Behavior, Program for Culture and Conflict Studies, NPS, March 24, 2009.
• “Gulf Security And A 'New New' American Foreign Policy?,” MD-ICI International Workshop, NATO Defense College, March 2009.
• “Threats to Security and Stability in the Gulf and Their Impact on Economic Development,” Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, 14th Annual Conference, February 2009.
• “Oil, Geopolitics and Security,” Stanley Foundation Symposium on Oil and U.S. Security. Stimson Center, Washington, DC, June 5, 2008.
• “The Militarization of Energy Security,” Energy Forum: The Global Energy Market: Comprehensive Strategies to Meet Geopolitical and Financial Risks, James A. Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, May 21, 2008.
• “Shifting Plate Tectonics in the Gulf: Militarization or Globalization?” Danish High Level Security Policy Course 2008, Copenhagen, Denmark, April 2, 2008.
• “2007 Strategy Conference Videos: The Middle East,” XVIII Annual Strategy Conference, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, Carlisle, PA, March 27-29, 2007
• “Formation of the Iraqi Political System: The Role of the GCC,” Emirates Lecture Series 46, The Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research.

Strategic Insights

• Irregular Warfare: Future War and Defense Planning (November '11)
• Tomorrow’s Proliferation Pathways: Weak States, Rogues, and Non-State Actors (with Aaron May) (January '09)
• Introduction: Special Edition on Energy Security (with Friedrich Steinhäusler and Daniel Moran) (February '08)
• The Militarization of Energy Security (with Daniel Moran) (February '08)
• Strategic Insecurity After Saddam: Whither Regional Security in a World Turned Upside Down? (March '07)
• Pouring More Arms into Iraq Risks Regional Conflagration (March '07)
• Serious or Not on Iraq War? (January '07)
• WMD Proliferation, Globalization, and International Security: Whither the Nexus and National Security? (July '06)
• Storytelling and Terrorism: Towards a Comprehensive 'Counter-Narrative Strategy' (with William D. Casebeer, March '05)
• Saddam's Capture and the New Political Order (January '04)
• "In Defense of the Nation": Terror and Reform in Saudi Arabia (October '03)
• Occupation of Iraq: Geostrategic and Institutional Challenges (August '03)
• Political and Economic Transition on the Arabian Peninsula (May '03)
• Removal of Saddam: The End of an Era (February '03)
• Preventive War Against Iraq (with James Wirtz, November '02)
• Odium of the Mesopotamia Entanglement (October '02)
• Deconstructing the U.S.-Saudi Partnership? (September '02)
• Nuclear Weapons, Iraq, & U.S. Strategy in the Middle East (with James Wirtz, Aug '02)
• WMD Proliferation and Conventional Counterforce: The Case of Iraq (July '02)
• Negative Security Assurances & the Nuclear Posture Review (with Jim Wirtz, July '02)
• Shibboleth Slaying in a Post-Saddam Iraq (June '02)
• A Quiet Revolution: The New Nuclear Triad (with James Wirtz, May '02)
• "NORTHCOM to Coordinate DoD Role in Homeland Defense" (May '02)
• Iraq: The Weapons Inspection Conundrum (with Jack Boureston, April '02)
• Iraq: Next Phase in the Campaign? (with Iliana Bravo, April '02)
• Homeland Defense: Ramping Up, But What’s the Glide Path? (March '02)
• U.S. Security Architecture in the Gulf: Elements and Challenges (March '02)
• Current WMD Challenges in the Middle East (with Jack Boureston and Peter Lavoy, March '02)