On Thursday, Sept. 9, the Strauss Center, Clements Center for National Security and the Intelligence Studies Project will host "Our War in Afghanistan: Recollection, Consequence, and Opportunity," a panel discussion featuring Paul Edgar, associate director at the Clements Center for National Security; Sheena Greitens, associate professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs; J. Paul Pope, senior fellow at the Intelligence Studies Project; and Aaron O'Connell, director of research at the Clements Center for National Security.
Join us at the LBJ Plaza, located between the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the LBJ Presidential Library. Due to COVID protocols, this event is being held outdoors under a tent with fans.
Registration is required. Seating is limited. The sponsors of the event will continue to follow all public health-related policies of the University of Texas at Austin. Please be mindful that an inherent risk of exposure to viruses and other health threats exists in any public space. Attendees voluntarily assume all associated risks. For those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, we ask that you refrain from attending the event. All UT guidelines and FAQs about COVID-19 can be found at Protect Texas Together.
Biographies
Paul Edgar is the associate director of the William P. Clements, Jr. Center for National Security at the University of Texas-Austin. He holds a Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of Texas and studies the historical origins of diplomacy, war and strategy in pre-classical antiquity. He is also a philologist of several ancient languages. As a graduate student, he was a fellow in the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Engaged Scholar Program and also with the Clements Center. Prior to beginning work on his Ph.D., Paul had been an Olmsted Foundation Scholar at Tel Aviv University where he studied for his master's degree, focusing on early Israelite and Jewish literature from the Iron Age through the Crusades. Previously, Paul earned his bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Saint Mary's University. His public writing has appeared in Foreign Policy, Task & Purpose, and Capital Commentary. He is currently finishing his first book, an international diplomatic history of the Late Bronze Age.
Before entering academia, Edgar served more than 22 years as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army, beginning as a platoon leader in Korea and then in the 75th Ranger Regiment. He commanded an airborne company in Vicenza, Italy, deploying in support of numerous contingency and training operations throughout Europe and North Africa. He first deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom I in the capacity of security adviser to Vice Admiral (Ret.) John Scott Redd in the Coalition Provisional Authority. Paul returned to Iraq during the 2006–07 surge, serving as an infantry battalion operations and executive officer, conducting counterinsurgency and combat operations in both Fallujah and South Babil Province. In 2008–09, as an infantry brigade operations officer, he deployed to Afghanistan and conducted counterinsurgency operations in Paktika, Paktia, and Khost provinces.
Sheena Chestnut Greitens is an associate professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a faculty fellow for the Clements Center for National Security. She is also a distinguished scholar at the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Her work focuses on East Asia, authoritarian politics and American national security policy. She is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, an adjunct fellow with the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an associate in research at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University, and a member of the Digital Freedom Forum at the Center for a New American Security.
From 2015 to 2020, Greitens was an assistant professor of political science at the University of Missouri, and co-director of the University's Institute for Korean Studies. Her work on China and North Korea has appeared in academic journals and edited volumes in English, Chinese and Korean, and in major media outlets. She has also previously testified to Congress on security issues in the Indo-Pacific. Her first book, Dictators and their Secret Police: Coercive Institutions and State Violence (Cambridge, 2016) received the 2017 Best Book Award from both the International Studies Association and the Comparative Democratization section of the American Political Science Association. In 2017-18, Greitens served as the First Lady of Missouri, where she helped lead the state's trade mission to China and South Korea, and successfully advocated for major legislative and administrative reforms to Missouri's policies on foster care, adoption, and child abuse prevention. She is currently working on two main research projects: one on China's internal security policies and their implications for China in the world, and another on authoritarian diasporas, particularly focused on North Korea. She holds a doctorate from Harvard University; an M.Phil from Oxford University, where she studied as a Marshall Scholar; and a bachelor's from Stanford University.
J. Paul Pope is the senior fellow at the Intelligence Studies Project. Pope retired from the CIA after multiple foreign tours, service as chief of station and assignments as a chief, deputy chief, and chief of ops in the Directorate of Operations' three largest components. As chief of the Training and Tradecraft Division, he was responsible for DO training, capturing "lessons learned" and adapting to emerging technical challenges and mission imperatives. He was acting ADNI for partner engagement for an extended period and head of delegation to NATO's Civilian Intelligence Committee. Pope was DNI/DCIA Representative to the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command and his component commands. Prior to the NCS, he served on the National Intelligence Council for the Near East and South Asia and led an analytic unit in the Directorate of Intelligence. Pope was an Army officer, with service on the Army General Staff after twice commanding at the company level, including command of the only active firebase in the Army on the Korean DMZ. He received his M.A. with Distinction from the Naval Postgraduate School and B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is a distinguished graduate of Command and General Staff College and a graduate of the National War College's CAPSTONE course.
Aaron O'Connell is associate professor of history at The University of Texas at Austin and the director of research at the Clements Center. Previously, he served as director for defense policy & strategy on the National Security Council at the White House, where he worked on a range of national security matters including security cooperation and assistance, defense matters in Africa, significant military exercises, landmine and cluster munitions policy, and high-technology matters affecting the national defense, such as autonomy in weapon systems. He is a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.
O'Connell's scholarly interests span four interrelated fields: 20th century military history, U.S. foreign affairs, cultural history and American politics. His scholarly publications focus on understanding the effects of U.S. military influence and infrastructure inside and outside the United States. His public history pieces mostly concern how the U.S. military affects contemporary domestic and political culture. He teaches courses in military history, U.S. foreign policy, U.S. military culture, and the U.S.'s role in the world since 1898.