About
AT A GLANCE:
Adjunct Professor, Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
RESEARCH AREAS:
- Policymaking
- Media and Politics
- International Relations Theory and Practice
BIOGRAPHY:
Dr. Jay M. Parker is an Adjunct Professor in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at
Georgetown University. He teaches graduate courses on policymaking tradecraft and
international relations theory and practice. In 2023, he retired as Distinguished
Professor and Major General Fox Conner Chair of International Security Studies in
the College of International Security Affairs of National Defense University. A graduate
of the University of Arizona, he earned master's degrees from Arizona State University,
University of Southern California, and the U.S. Naval War College, and a PhD in political
science from Columbia University.
From 2011 to 2016, Dr. Parker served as CISA’s International Security Studies Department Head. Dr. Parker previously served on the faculties at Columbia, George Washington, and Georgetown Universities. He was a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University and at Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies. He is former chair of the International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association (ISA) and former chair of the ISA Standing Committee on Professional Development. He also served on Governing Councils of the Foreign Policy, Film and Politics, and International Security and Arms Control sections of the American Political Science Association.
Dr. Parker served as an active-duty officer in the U.S. Army for more than 26 years, retiring in 2005 in the rank of Colonel. Commissioned as an Infantry officer, he served in command and staff positions in infantry and special operations units in Germany and the United States. He took part in operational planning for RESTORE HOPE and other humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping missions. He also served as an instructor, assistant professor, and associate professor of American and Comparative Politics in the Department of Social Sciences of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
From 1994 to 2005, Dr. Parker was Professor and Director of International Relations and National Security Studies at the U.S. Military Academy. During the period ranging from the post-Cold War to the aftermath of 9/11, he was responsible for curriculum development and course supervision for the undergraduate international relations program. He also provided analytical support on national security issues to senior Army leaders. For more than five years, Dr. Parker served as Chair of the USMA Scholarship Committee, selecting, certifying, and preparing West Point Cadets to compete for Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Fulbright, Gates, and other post-graduate fellowships. During his tenure on the committee, West Point graduates were awarded 58 prestigious fellowships.
Prior to his military service, Dr. Parker served on the staff of Congressman Morris K. Udall (D-AZ) and as a political media consultant. After retiring from the military, Dr. Parker served as Executive Vice President of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and was the Center’s liaison to the Iraq Study Group. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, he developed and presented CFR's Classic Foreign Policy Films Series. He served on the Board of Center for Civilians in Conflict, and as a U.S.-Japan Leader Fellow. He also served on advisory councils for the Museum of Television and Radio (now The Paley Center). In 2008, Dr. Parker was a member of the defense policy team and the veterans' advisory group for the Obama for America presidential campaign and served on the Presidential transition.
Dr. Parker is the co-author of Restoring Thucydides: Testing Familiar Lessons and Deriving New Ones with Dr. Andrew Novo. He has lectured and presented research at colleges, universities, policy studies centers, and conferences in the US, Canada, Japan, Poland, and Great Britain. His teaching, research, and publication areas include International Relations, Security Studies, American Foreign Policy, Mass Media and Politics, East Asia, and Politics and Film.
PUBLICATIONS:
Restoring Thucydides: Testing Familiar Lessons and Deriving New Ones, co-author with Dr. Andrew Novo
CONNECT / FOLLOW:
LinkedIn: @jayparker