J. Matthew Vaccaro is Program Director of the Center for Stabilization and Reconstruction Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He joined the faculty of the school in 2003. His experience and interests are in conflict management and peace operations, the U.S. interagency process, political-military planning, and post-conflict reconstruction.
Previously Mr. Vaccaro served as Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs on the National Security Council Staff at the White House and as Director of the Office for Peace Operations in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He has also served in positions at a research think tank and as an officer in the U.S. Army (with service in Somalia).
Mr. Vaccaro is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has been a frequent university guest lecturer at Stanford, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Columbia, the Army and Naval War Colleges, and the National Defense University, among others. His BA and MA are from Stanford University in international relations and international policy studies, respectively.
Mr. Vaccaro's publications and research focus on operational strategies for peace enforcement, policing within stability operations, interagency political-military planning, and training of civilians and armed forces for contingency operations.
