Thomas Bowditch, Ph.D.

Expertise

• East Asian political-military relationships
• U.S. policy and strategic objectives in Asia
• U.S.-Japan security alliance
• U.S. military force posture issues in Asia-Pacific
• Islamic fundamentalism – historical perspectives
• U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East
• Fixed-wing aviation support to ground forces
• Rotary-wing support in combat operations

In 2006 Thomas Bowditch, Ph.D. returned to CNA from the Pacific Command where he was a special assistant for the Commander in Chief, USPACOM working on the Command’s input to the Integrated Global Presence and Basing Strategy (IGPBS). During the summer of 2007, Bowditch was temporarily assigned to the Commander, U.S. Central Command in Tampa, FL, where he completed a special project for the commander on strategic options for the way ahead in Iraq. Earlier in Operation Enduring Freedom, Bowditch was in the Persian Gulf and Kandahar, Afghanistan, during the first half of 2002 providing analytical support to the Marine Corps Combat Assessment Team.

Bowditch has done operational research for both the Marine Corps and Navy including analyses of the roles and missions of naval forces in a changing global security environment. He has also done work in the area of Command and Control (C2), the dynamics of headquarters staff architecture, and the evolution of command relationship architectures.

Recent Work: American military posture in the Western Pacific; U.S. military basing structure in Japan; emerging strategic consensus between the U.S. and India in the Indian Ocean region; U.S. force buildup in Afghanistan.

Education: Ph.D. in International Relations, University of Virginia; M.A. in International Relations, University of Virginia; M.A. in National Security Studies (with distinction), Naval War College; B.A. in pre-medicine and history, Bates College.

Publications of Interest:

• “Sea Control” book chapter in Securing Freedom in the Global Commons, Scott Jasper, editor, Stanford University Press, 2010.
• Maritime Threats, Risks, and Priorities in the Indian Ocean: a U.S. Perspective, paper prepared for the National Maritime Foundation-CNA Bilateral Round Table in Delhi, India 21-22 January 2010.
• Sea Control in an Irregular World, Power Point presentation at the AIE Irregular Warfare Conference in San Diego, CA, 22-23 October, 2009.
• Peacetime Energy Security: What is the Threat and is there a Naval Mission? Paper prepared for the Korean Institute of Maritime Strategy, Annual Conferencein San Francisco, CA, 27-28 August, 2009.
• Policy Options and the U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq; an Analysis of the Way Ahead, CNA occasional paper, July 2009.
• Getting it Right the Second Time; Recreating a Stable World Order at the Edge of Chaos, occasional paper, Center for Naval Analyses, Alexandria, VA, January 2009.
• The U.S. Departure from Vietnam; Lessons for Iraq, Center for Naval Analyses, Alexandria, Virginia, November 2008.