WHITNEY GRESPIN
  • Home
  • My Research
  • My Work
  • My Teaching
  • My Engagement
  • My Writing
  • Recognition
  • Contact
Picture
​I am a foreign policy scholar and practitioner focused on contingency contracting and security force assistance, having earned my PhD from King's College London's Defence Studies Department at the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College.  Feel free to learn more about my academic work and extracurriculars in the tabs above or visit my consultancy at www.sloanmanor.com, and please do reach out if there are any synergies between my work and yours!


​I am honored to have been selected as a Postdoctoral Researcher for Academic Year 2021-22 at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Institute for Future Conflict (IFC).  The IFC focuses on research and education that examines the changing character and technologies of armed conflict while providing future officers with the skills to be agile and adaptive throughout their careers.  In this capacity I will be researching topics as they relate to the human domain and how that impacts future conflict, as well as supporting cadet education through the departments of Behavioral Science and Military & Strategic Studies.  
Picture

Picture
My consultancy Sloan Manor is currently supporting the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)'s Security Sector Program (ISSP, at https://igadssp.org/) with a major regional strategy coordination project and operations research.  The Objective and Missions of ISSP are: 
- Contributing to foster peace, security, sustainable development and regional integration in the IGAD region.
- Enhancing the effectiveness of the member states security sector to address common transnational, regional and national security threats.
- Enhancing and enabling member states' security sector capacity to address common transnational security threats, thus, engendering sustainable economic development.
- Contributing to the prediction, anticipation, prevention, and management of emerging, evolving, and exiting security threats in the IGAD region for sustainable development and economic integration.​

Recent Collaborative Projects I've Completed

Picture

War Amongst the People:
Critical Assessments

Recent conflicts have required the armed forces to engage in what has been termed ‘war amongst the people’. Such conflicts increasingly require a type of soldier deployed to function as an ‘armed social worker’, as was seen most recently in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. If this increased focus on societal relations has – and should – become the area of prime concern for contemporary armed forces, this poses a series of conceptual and practical questions regarding the ‘people’ concerned and the nature of the society amongst which war is conducted.  Scholars and practitioners come together in this volume to explore how armed forces can make sense of such complexity in conceptual terms and how military actors have practically interacted with local power structures and relations, with both positive and negative effects. It examines armed forces’ engagement at the local level in a contemporary context, and contextualises this within the broader political, strategic, tactical and legal implications this engagement has had at home and overseas.

Peace Operations Training Institute:
​Ethics in Peace Operations course revision

​Developed through my work with King’s College London's Centre for Military Ethics, this course presents a general introduction to the basic ethical aspects of peace operations. The UN Core Values — integrity, professionalism, and respect for diversity — form the basis for this course. Through the use of the case studies and practical examples, this compilation aims to be a guideline for peace support personnel in the field. Topics include: the Code of Conduct; cultural awareness; gender and peace operations; sexual exploitation and abuse and human trafficking; child protection; human rights in peace operations; HIV/AIDS Awareness; and UN guidelines and procedures on discipline for uniformed peace operations forces. The course also includes recent reforms within the UN System and an increased focus on the gender perspective in peace operations. ​​
Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • My Research
  • My Work
  • My Teaching
  • My Engagement
  • My Writing
  • Recognition
  • Contact