Book Chapters"US Contingency Contractors as Part of the Total Defence Force: Framing the Spectrum of Nonstate Security Actors.” Total Defence Forces in the Twenty-First Century. McGill-Queens University Press. 2023.
Total defence, as a concept, combines and extends military and civil defence: in a state of war or emergency, all social institutions mobilize to defend the state. Total defence forces, led by a diverse workforce of defence and security professionals, are critical to both national defence and international security goals. This volume focuses on a critical question: what are the main challenges to workforce integration and collaboration, and how can such challenges be overcome to deliver the full potential of the total defence force? Together, scholars and practitioners provide some answers. |
In addition to the peer reviewed works below my public media portfolio can be viewed at http://whitneygrespin.pressfolios.com/.
I've had the privilege of being published by Forbes, Foreign Affairs, UPI, and War on the Rocks, amongst other outlets. |
“Enhancing Operational Effectiveness Through an Analysis of the Women, Peace, and Security Environment in Djibouti.” Sandhurst Trends in Conflict: Women, Peace and Security in Military Operations. Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Howgate Publishing. 2023.
Civilians are disproportionately impacted by contemporary armed conflict, with women, children, and other vulnerable groups among the most affected. Effective military operations occur against the backdrop of two major shifts in international thinking on security: Human Security and the Women, Peace and Security agenda (WPS). These innovations have radically transformed the field of contemporary security studies and continue to evolve and be debated in both academic and policy circles. However, militaries have been slow to adopt these ideas and adapt their behaviours to account for the importance of protecting civilians, gender mainstreaming, women’s participation, responsibilities on children in conflict, and preventing egregious crimes, such as modern slavery and human trafficking. This book is a conversation between academics and civilian and military practitioners to better understand the contemporary challenges and obligations militaries have towards realising the WPS agenda. Drawing on expertise from military, academia, and civil society it offers insights and recommendations on how militaries can effectively integrate the WPS agenda into their operations. |
"The Easy Button: Foreign Military Training as an Exit Plan." Sandhurst Trends in Conflict: War Amongst the People. Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Howgate Publishing. 2019.
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. |
Peer Reviewed
- Journal of African Military History. Things Fall Apart: Soviet Assistance to the Somali Armed Forces, 1960–1977. 6 October 2022.
- U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute monograph, The Evolving Contingency Contracting Market: Private Sector Self-Regulation and USG Monitoring of Stability Operations Services Procurement. January 2016.
- Journal of Strategic Security. From the Ground Up: The Importance of Preserving SOF Capacity Building Skills. July 2014. (450 distinct downloads as of July 2017)
- Small Wars Journal. The Spaces in Between: Mitigating Threats in Undergoverned Spaces with Michael Rettig. 17 October 2013.
- PRIAD (Partnership for Research in International Affairs & Development). Shohna ba Shohna: US Interests in Transition from Coalition to Afghan National Security Forces. July 2013 printing; Volume 1, Issue 1.
- Stability: International Journal of Security & Development. Fifty-four Durand Lines. 23 July 2013.