William Rosenau, Ph.D.

Expertise

• Insurgency and counterinsurgency
• Terrorism and counterterrorism

William Rosenau, Ph.D. is a senior analyst with CNA Strategic Studies’ Stability and Development Program. His current research efforts focus on insurgency and counterinsurgency, domestic and international terrorism, and counterterrorism. Before joining CNA, he spent ten years in the International Security Program at the RAND Corporation, where he chaired the RAND Insurgency Board.

Recent Work: Insurgent motivations; recruitment, and retention; Afghan National Police; border security.

Previous positions: Adjunct professor, Security Studies Program, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (2004-present); Political Scientist, RAND Corporation; Senior Policy Adviser, Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism, U.S. Department of State; Senior Analyst, Strategy and Policy Analysis Department, Science Applications International Corporation; Legislative Assistant for Defense and Foreign Policy, U.S. Senate; Professional Staff Member, U.S. Department of Defense Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict, U.S. Department of Defense; Teaching Fellow, Department of History, Harvard University.

Education: Ph.D. in War Studies, King’s College, University of London; M.A. in History, Magdalene College, Cambridge University; A.B. in Political Science, Columbia University.

Publications of Interest:

• “Research Note: Why They Join, Why They Fight, and Why They Leave: Learning from Colombia’s Database of Demobilized Militants,” Terrorism and Political Violence (forthcoming, 2012).
• “Multinational Corporations: Potential Proxies for Counterinsurgency?” in Michael Innes (ed), Making Sense of Proxy Wars: States, Surrogates, and the Use of Force (Washington: Potomac Books, 2012).
• Acknowledging Limits: Police Advisors and Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, (Marine Corps University Press, 2011).
• “Understanding Insurgent Intelligence Operations,” Marine Corps University Journal (Spring 2011).
• (with William McCants), "Ten Years Later: How We Won," Atlantic.com, September 8, 2011.
• (with Sara Daly) “American Journeys to Jihad: U.S. Extremists and Foreign Conflicts During the 1970s and 1980s,” CTC Sentinel, Vol. 3, No. 8 (August 2010).
• (with Lindsay Clutterbuck) “Subversion as a Facet of Terrorism and Insurgency: The Case for a Twenty-First Century Approach,” Strategic Insights [Center for Contemporary Conflict] Volume VIII, Issue 3 (August 2009).
• (With Jeffrey Cozzens) “Training for Terror: The “Homegrown” Case of Jami`at al-Islam al-Sahih, ” CTC Sentinel, Volume 2, Issue 8 (August 2009).
• “Counterinsurgency: Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan,” Harvard International Review, Spring 2009.
• (with Peter Chalk and Angel Rabasa) The Evolving Dynamic of Terrorism in Southeast Asia: A Net Assessment (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2009).
• (with Austin Long) The Phoenix Program and Contemporary Counterinsurgency (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2009).
• (with Peter Chalk, et al.) Corporations and Counterinsurgency (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corp 2009).
• (with Farhana Ali) “Jamaat al-Fuqra: An Overblown Threat?” CTC Sentinel, vol. 1, no. 11 (Oct. 2008).
• U.S. Internal Security Assistance to South Vietnam: Insurgency, Subversion, and Public Order (London and New York: Routledge, 2005).

Recent Presentations:

• “’Our Ghettos, Too, Need a Lansdale’: American Counterinsurgency Abroad and at Home During the 1960s,” “Rethinking Counterinsurgency: Theory and Practice,” Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, University of Texas at Austin, June 8, 2012.
• “9/11/2011: The War is Over,” 9/11 Commemoration Conference, International Centre for Democratic Transition, Budapest, September 9, 2011.
• “Cops and Counterinsurgency: Modernization Theory, State-Building, and Police Assistance in Contemporary Conflict Zones,” “New Ways of War” conference, Clinton Institute for American Studies, University College Dublin, June 1, 2011.
• “Counterinsurgency and US Defense Planning in the Twenty-First Century,” Chief of the Defence Force Conference, “Beyond Asymmetry: Counterinsurgency and Stabilisation in the 21st Century, Canberra, Australia, November 1, 2010.
• “Understanding Terrorist and Insurgent Intelligence Operations,” Joint Warfare Center, US Joint Forces Command, September 9, 2010.
• “Multinational Corporations in Conflict Zones,” NATO Defence College, Rome, Mar. 19, 2010.
• “Do Islamist Groups Have a Covert Agenda of Subversion?” Wilton Park, UK, Nov. 5, 2009.