Ben Connable is an American retired Marine Major, military strategist and Professor at the Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

Early life

Ben Connable graduated from the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

.RAND Corporation biography
/ref> He received a master's degree in Strategic Intelligence from the

American Military University American Public University System (APUS) is a Private university, private, For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit, distance education, online university system with its headquarters in Charles Town, West Virginia. It is c ...

and a master's degree in National Security Affairs from the

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

. He also attended the War Studies program at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, where he earned a PhD

Career

He is a retired Major of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, having served in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

with the

.Ben Connable
A Marine sees what defeatists don't
''USA Today'', May 18, 2004 He now serves as Professor at the Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School in

. He has been published in ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', ''

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', etc. On the United States's defeat of

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

, he has suggested looking at the broader picture, by focusing on a national reconciliation between Sunnis, Shias and Kurds.Ben Connable
Defeating the Islamic State in Iraq: Testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
RAND Corporation, September 2014

Bibliography

*''How Insurgencies End'' (with Martin C. Libicki, RAND Corporation, 2010). *''Military Intelligence Fusion for Complex Operations: A New Paradigm'' (RAND Corporation, 2012). *''Embracing the Fog of War: Assessment and Metrics in Counterinsurgency'' (RAND Corporation, 2012). *''Assessing Freedom of Movement for Counterinsurgency Campaigns'' (RAND Corporation, 2012). *''Leveraging Development Aid to Address Root Causes in Counterinsurgency: Balancing Theory and Practice in"Hold" and "Build".'' (RAND Corporation, 2013). *''Modeling, Simulation, and Operations Analysis in Afghanistan and Iraq'' (RAND Corporation, 2014). *''Defeating the Islamic State in Iraq'' (RAND Corporation, 2014). *''The Future of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces'' (with Daniel Egel, Trevor Johnston, RAND Corporation, 2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connable, Ben Living people University of Colorado Boulder alumni Naval Postgraduate School alumni Alumni of King's College London United States Marine Corps officers RAND Corporation people Year of birth missing (living people)