About

Nathan Finney, PhD

AT A GLANCE:
An Army Strategist currently serving at U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command. He previously served at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and U.S. Army Pacific in Hawaii, as well as tours in Washington, D.C., Afghanistan, and Iraq.

RESEARCH AREAS:

  • Strategy
  • Military History
  • Political Economy
  • American Political Development
  • First World War
  • Cold War Taiwan

BIOGRAPHY:
Nate is a founder and former president of the Military Writers Guild (and is currently serving as the Chairman of the Advisory Board), as well as a founder of The Strategy Bridge and the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum. He is a managing editor at the British Journal for Military History, on the editorial advisory board for the Journal of Military History, a senior mentor for the Project on International Peace and Security (PIPS) at the College of William & Mary, an affiliate at the College of William & Mary's Whole of Government Center, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Duke University American Grand Strategy Program, a Non-Resident Adjunct Fellow at the Pacific Forum, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Nate was a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point. He is the co-editor and author of the book Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics, the editor and author of On Strategy: A Primer, and published his most recent book, Orchestrating Power: The American Associational State in the First World War, with

Cornell University Press. Nate is currently researching a new book focused on Cold War Taiwan.

Nate earned a Ph.D. in History from Duke University in 2022 while also serving as a Goodpaster Scholar. Previously, he received master’s degrees in Public Administration from Harvard University and the University of Kansas, and a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Arizona.

PUBLICATIONS:

Books and Book Chapters: 

Articles and Reports: 

“Developing Foreign Security Forces in the Era of Persistent Conflict,” Army Magazine, January 2010. 
“A Culture of Inclusion: Defense, Diplomacy, and Development as a Modern American Foreign Policy,” Small Wars Journal, 26 September 2010. 
“Building Police Capacity in Afghanistan: The Challenges of a Multilateral Approach,” PRISM, Volume 2, Number 1, November 2010. 
“Security, Capacity, and Literacy,” Military Review, January/February 2011.
“Building the Security Force that Won’t Leave,” Joint Forces Quarterly, July 2011. 
“Developing a Sustainable Security Force,” Canadian Military Journal, July 2011.
“Helping the Afghans Help Themselves,” Proceedings, July 2011. 
“The Army Ethic, Public Trust, and the Profession of Arms,” Military Review, September 2011. 
"Air-Sea Battle as a Military Contribution to Strategy Development," Infinity Journal, 31 October 2012. 
"Preventing Mass Atrocities in Sub-Saharan Africa through Strategic Engagement," Military Review, 1 November 2012. 
"Values and National Security: The Value of an Education in Power," Diplomatic Courier, 19 January 2013. 
"Using the Threat of Violence to Contain Syria: An External Approach," Infinity Journal, Volume 3, Issue No. 3, Summer 2013, pages 13-16.
"Why the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum Matters: Peripheral Networks & Innovation," War on the Rocks, 21 October 2013. 
"Out of Balance: Rebalancing Access and Overcoming Denial," The Journal of Military Operations, 20 January 2014.
"On 'US Options in Syria'," Parameters, January 2014.
"Relativity and Negotiation: Core Elements of a General Theory of Strategy," Infinity Journal, The Strategy Bridge Special Edition, March 2014, pages 22-25.
"An Attack Comes Home: A Reflection," The Citizen, 28 April 2014. 
"The Defense Entrepreneurs Forum: Developing a Culture of Innovation," Military Review, July-August 2014, pages 44-49. 
"The Long Gray Online," Cicero Magazine, 25 November 2014.
"After Regime Change: Dunsinane as a Window into War and Warfare," Asides, February 2015. 
"2026: Operation Iranian Freedom," The Strategy Bridge, August 2015.
"Land Power: More than Simply the Element of Decision," Infinity Journal, Volume 5, Issue 1, Fall 2015, pages 30-32.
"Consequences of Fear: Callousness," Consequence Magazine, March 2016.
"The Myth of Russian Aggression and NATO Expansion," The Strategy Bridge, December 2016. 
"A High-Tech Call to Arms: Mobilizing the Masses in the Twenty-First Century," The Modern War Institute, 3 February 2017. 
"Fresh thinking to deal with ‘not quite wars’ (part 1)," The Strategist, 20 July 2017. 
"Fresh thinking to deal with ‘not quite wars’ (part 2)," The Strategist, 14 September 2017. 
"Integration in warfare," The Strategist, 11 September 2017.
"AI wanted on ground to protect and attack," The Australian, 1 December 2017; also found at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. 
“Preventing a Glass Cannon: Increasing Flexibility and Stamina in the Australian Army,” Centre of Gravity report, Australian National University, July 2020. 
“‘Building a great organization for war’: The Associational State and Woman’s War Work in North Carolina, 1917-1919,” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, Volume 22, Issue 2, April 2023, pages 114–142. 
“Building a Community: How To Create a Professional Writing Network,” Military Review, Special Edition, September 2024. 
“Reimagining an Affirmative Order for the Indo-Pacific,” Fletcher Security Review, Volume 12, Number 1, 2025 Edition.
“The Council of Defense System (Council of National Defense),” in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2025-11-26.

CONNECT / FOLLOW:
Linkedin: @finneynk

 

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