"Counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan: Strategy and (Oral) History"
Dr. Spencer Bakich is a professor of international studies and the Director of the National Security Program at the Virginia Military Institute, and a Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. Specializing in strategic studies and American foreign policy, Dr. Bakich teaches courses in grand strategy, U.S. national security policy, U.S.-China relations, and strategy and cybersecurity.
Dr. Bakich is the author of Success and Failure in Limited War: Information and Strategy in the Korean, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, and Iraq Wars (Chicago, 2014). His current book-length project, under contract with the University of Kansas Press, examines the relationship between President George H. W. Bush's decision for war in the Persian Gulf and his grand strategic designs for a post-Cold War international order. Dr. Bakich's commentary has been featured in The National Interest, USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Strategy Bridge.
Dr. Bakich has participated in governmental and professional workshops and projects, the sponsors of which include the National Intelligence Council, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, the Project on Civilian-Military Educational Cooperation, and the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum. As a Senior Fellow in Presidential Studies at the Miller Center, Dr. Bakich has interviewed numerous senior policymakers, military officers, and Foreign Service officers who served in the George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama administrations.
A recipient of the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) Outstanding Faculty Award in 2023, Dr. Bakich earned a B.A. in international affairs and economics from James Madison University (magna cum laude) and an M.A. and Ph.D in politics at the University of Virginia.