
Kyle Beardsley is Professor in the Department of Political Science at Duke University, Deputy Director of the Triangle Institute of Security Studies, and co-director of the International Crisis Behavior data project.
His research focuses on the quantitative study of international conflict and peace processes. He is particularly interested in questions related to the role of third parties in shaping conflict dynamics, the links between armed conflict and gender power imbalances, the diffusion of armed conflict across space, and the impact of nuclear weapons on international crisis behavior.

Peter D. Feaver is a Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University. He is Director of the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy. Feaver is author of Armed Servants: Agency, Oversight, and Civil-Military Relations (Harvard Press, 2003) and of Guarding the Guardians: Civilian Control of Nuclear Weapons in the United States (Cornell University Press, 1992). He is co-author: with Christopher Gelpi and Jason Reifler, of Paying the Human Costs of War (Princeton Press, 2009); with Susan Wasiolek and Anne Crossman, of Getting the Best Out of College (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 2nd edition 2012); and with Christopher Gelpi, of Choosing Your Battles: American Civil-Military Relations and the Use of Force (Princeton Press, 2004). He is co-editor, with Richard H. Kohn, of Soldiers and Civilians: The Civil-Military Gap and American National Security (MIT Press, 2001). He has published numerous other monographs, scholarly articles, book chapters, and policy pieces on grand strategy, American foreign policy, public opinion, nuclear proliferation, civil-military relations, and cybersecurity.

Moses Khisa is an Assistant Professor of Political Science in the School of Public & International Affairs (with a joint appointment in Africana Studies) at North Carolina State University. He is a graduate of Makerere University, Kampala (BA & MA), and Northwestern University (MA & PhD in political science). His research and teaching interests include the political economy of development, politics of institutional change, civil-military relations, among others.
He is a columnist for the Daily Monitor newspaper, a research associate with the Centre for Basic Research, co-founder of a think-tank Society for Justice and National Unity, all based in Kampala. He is also a member of the Dakar based pan-African Council for the Development of Social Research in Africa (CODESRIA). He has published in Africa Development, Third World Quarterly, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, Civil Wars, Review of African Political Economy, Journal of Eastern African Studies, among other peer-reviewed journals. He is currently completing two book manuscripts, one on Rethinking Civil-Military Relations in Africa (co-edited) and another on Africa’s New International Relations (co-authored).

John Mattingly is a Professor of Nuclear Engineering and University Faculty Scholar with NC State University (NCSU). His research principally focuses on developing new radiation measurement and analysis methods for nuclear security applications, including nonproliferation, counterterrorism, emergency response, and forensics. John is the director of NCSU’s Nuclear Nonproliferation Science and Policy graduate certificate program, which is jointly administered by the Nuclear Engineering and Political Science departments. He currently serves as the chair of the American Nuclear Society’s Nuclear Nonproliferation Policy Division.

Patricia L. Sullivan is Associate Professor in the Department of Public Policy and the Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Director of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies.
Dr. Sullivan’s research explores the utility of military force as a policy instrument; the effects of foreign military aid and assistance provided to both state and nonstate actors; and factors that affect leaders’ decisions to initiate, escalate, or terminate foreign military operations. Her research has been funded by the Carnegie Corporation, the National Science Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, and the Office of Naval Research. Her book, Who Wins? Predicting Strategic Success and Failure in Armed Conflict, was published by Oxford University Press in 2012.

Erinn Whitaker, a former senior analyst for the US Intelligence Community, is a Professor of the Practice in the Curriculum of Peace, War and Defense (PWAD) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
With nearly 15 years of experience overseas and in Washington, she draws on active teaching methods to underscore themes such as the dynamic between senior policymakers and intelligence officers, how the intelligence community has evolved, and the importance of analytic tradecraft. Whitaker teaches courses such as “Writing and Briefing for Intelligence,” “Cases in Counterintelligence,” and “The Origins and Consequences of September 11th” to help students interested in careers ranging from intelligence to public policy to journalism strengthen their critical thinking, written and oral communication skills.