Faculty

David F. Davis, Co-Director

David F. Davis, Co-Director, retired from 20 years of service with the US Army’s Corps of Engineers in October 1992 and moved to Virginia to work at the George Mason Center for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence. During a formative January 1993 visit with the Canadian contingent of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus, Davis realized complex multinational peace operations were not merely military endeavors—but political ones involving multiple actors. His subsequent research and practice focused on application of operations research analytic modeling techniques to these interventions, particularly the Conceptual Model for Peace Operations (CMPO). The Program on Peacekeeping Policy was established under the Public Policy umbrella at Mason in 1994 and Davis started a master’s degree for peace operations in 1997. He assumed the director’s position in 1999 and changed the name of the program in 2001 to the Peace Operations Policy Program (POPP). In July 2008, he split the directorship with Allison Frendak-Blume. Over the years Davis has conducted work or research in Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Moldova, and Iraq. He is presently on sabbatical in Stuttgart, Germany serving as an operations research analyst with the Resources Directorate of Africa Command (AFRICOM). Davis teaches Theory of Peace Operations (Peace Operations I) and Practice of Peace Operations (Peace Operations II). He holds a M.Sc. Operations Research (Honors) and M.Sc. Applied Mathematics from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a B.Sc. Mineral Engineering Mathematics from the Colorado School of Mines.

Allison Frendak-Blume, Co-Director and Academic Director
afrendak@gmu.edu                     3351 Fairfax Dr., MS 3B1                  

Allison Frendak-Blume, Co-Director and Academic Director, came to Mason as a doctoral student after working in Bosnia with Save the Children/US, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and Conflict Resolution Catalysts/Danas za Bolja Sutra (1997-98). She started with POPP as a part-time research assistant in June 1999 and supported “Synthetic Environments for National Security Estimates” (S.E.N.S.E.) simulations with the program and later the Institute for Defense Analyses (1999-2002). Frendak-Blume began full-time work as a research associate in February 2001 and among other projects developed the fifth version of CMPO; performed task analyses related to peacekeeping, conflict prevention, and peacekeeper extraction missions for the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency; provided functional decomposition subject matter expertise to the US Pacific Command for development of its “Peace Operations Support Tool”; and researched and composed archetypes of civilian organizations involved in post-conflict Afghanistan and Iraq for a joint US-Swedish “Strategic Management System.” She served as acting director while Dave Davis was in Iraq (2004) and became the program’s academic director upon his return. In July 2008, the directorship was split between them. She resumed her role as academic director in May 2010. Frendak-Blume consults with the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) (2004- ), taking her to Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Poland. She has taught Experiential Applications in Conflict and Post-Conflict Environments, Theory of Peace Operations (Peace Operations I), Practice of Peace Operations (Peace Operations II), and Governance and Policy Processes. Frendak-Blume holds a Ph.D. Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University, an M.A. Social Sciences from Montclair State University, and a B.A. History (Russian Area Studies) from Seton Hall University.

James Narel, Adjunct Faculty
jnarel@gmu.edu
Main: 703-993-8595                 3351 Fairfax Dr., MS 3B1
Fax: 703-993-4876                    Arlington, Virginia 22201

James Narel, Adjunct Faculty, started teaching at POPP in the spring of 2007 and served as academic director from July 2008 through May 2010. Previously he had been a senior research fellow (2000-04). Narel spent most of his military career in education, teaching at the US Military Academy (1977-81, 1987-89), the Army Command and General Staff College (1983-84), and Industrial College of the Armed Forces (1992-95), with a specialization in ethics. This focus was also present in his duties as senior program officer with the US Army Task Force on Ethics (1981-83), special assistant to the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (1985-86), special assistant to the US Army Chief of Staff (1989-91), and as a visiting fellow with the National Defense University (1991-92). He teaches Practice of Peace Operations (Peace Operations II) and Culture, Organizations, and Technology. Narel holds a Ph.D. Public Policy from George Mason University, an M.A. Literature from the University of Massachusetts, and a B.S. Engineering from the US Military Academy.

Additional Faculty:

Cathryn Thurston, Adjunct Faculty, started to teach for POPP in the fall 2005. She presently works as director of the Strategic Intelligence Research department of the National Defense Intelligence College. Previously, she was an associate political scientist at the RAND Corporation’s DC office (2002-2008). Thurston was an intelligence analyst and expert on West European and NATO trends at the Army Staff, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (1997-2000); and a presidential management intern at the US Mission to NATO Headquarters; Office of the Secretary of Defense, Program Analysis and Evaluation; and RAND Corporation, National Defense Research Institute (1995-97). She teaches Analysis for Peace Operations. Thurston holds a Ph.D. Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University, M.A. International Relations from Syracuse University, and B.A. International Studies from the University of Denver.

Angelic Young, Adjunct Faculty, started teaching at POPP in the fall of 2006. Since 2009, she has served as the senior coordinator for peace and security assistance at the US Department of State’s Office of the Director of Foreign Assistance. Prior to that, she worked in the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs as lead implementer of the Afghan Police program (2001-06); and then deputy director of the Office of Police and Rule of Law overseeing programs in Kosovo, Haiti, Sudan, Liberia, and West Bank/Gaza (2006-09). Young teaches the International Police Operations and Rule of Law course. She holds a J.D. from Chicago Kent College of Law, and a B.A. from the Willamette University.

Other Faculty in SPP:

Kevin Avruch, Professor of Conflict Resolution and Anthropology; Ph.D., University of California at San Diego. Culture and conflict resolution, cross-cultural negotiation, nationalist and ethno-religious social movements, sources of political violence in protracted conflicts.

Desmond Dinan, Professor of Public Policy and Jean Monnet Chair; Ph.D., National University of Ireland, 1985. Global governance; European Union institutions, history, and historiography.

Jack Goldstone, Virginia E. and John T. Hazel Jr. Professor of Public Policy. Ph.D., Harvard University, 1981. Political conflict, revolutions and social movements, democratization, state building, comparative economic development.

Michael V. Hayden, distinguished visiting professor; M.A., Duquesne University. U.S. security and foreign policy.

Todd M. LaPorte, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Ph.D., Yale University, 1989. Governance, international political economy, organizational responses to extreme events, critical infrastructure protection.

Stuart Malawer, Distinguished Professor of Law and International Trade; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania. National security law and policy, U.S. and global trade politics.

Monty G. Marshall, Research Professor of Public Policy; Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1996. Comparative political and economic systems, governance and democracy, international relations and security, political and civil conflict.

Jeremy D. Mayer, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Ph.D., Georgetown University, 1996. Public opinion, racial politics, foreign policy, presidential elections, statistical methods, survey methods, and media politics.

Connie L. McNeely, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Ph.D., Stanford University. Race, ethnicity and nation; states and society.

John N. Paden, Clarence J. Robinson Professor of International Studies. Comparative government, international development, conflict resolution, African studies.

James Pfiffner, University Professor of Public Policy; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1975. American government and politics, U.S. federal government, strategic and international studies.

Louise Shelley, Professor of Public Policy; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1977. Transnational crime, terrorism, corruption, human trafficking, illicit trade; and Soviet successor state.

Janine R. Wedel, Professor of Public Policy; Ph.D., University of California, Berkley, 1985. Governing, corruption and the state, foreign aid, social networks, Eastern Europe, and anthropology of public policy.

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