December 08, 2005
Richard Shultz – Professor of International Politics
Since Professor Richard Shultz began studying security issues, there have been massive changes in the global use of force and its implications. The most recent shift, which began in the immediate post-Cold War period and climaxed with terrorist attacks such as 9/11, has highlighted the fact that traditional warfare is slowly being replaced by a new form of warfare – one which modern armies are ineffective in combating.
This change led Shultz to explore many aspects of the issue: What were the tools the US had at its disposal to deal with these security challenges? What were the roles of Special Forces? Why did the U.S. never use Special Forces to capture Osama bin Laden?
The latter question was addressed in a year-long study Shultz conducted with the Pentagon starting in December 2001, which was later briefed to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. Shultz made a convincing argument to the Department of Defense to allow publication of declassified portions of the study. These excerpts were published in a 2004 Weekly Standard article entitled "Showstoppers: Nine Reasons Why We Never Sent Our Special Operations Forces After al Qaeda Before 9/11.”
Schultz’s other work includes research on how other democracies have collected intelligence on armed groups, which was conducted mainly through private institutions. The findings were presented not only to government officials in Washington, but as a video to Special Operations Command in Florida.
His most recent research focuses on how to best understand non-state armed groups. He tries to look at the topic from several different vantage points, including history, philosophy, and anthropology.
Next spring, Shultz will be coming out with his seventh authored book, titled Insurgents, Terrorists, and Militias: The Warriors of Contemporary Combat, published by Columbia University Press and co-authored by Fletcher doctoral candidate Andrea J. Dew. It is intended, according to Schultz, as “a provocative account and analysis of 21st century warfare and the failures to understand the changing face of combat,” and is designed to appeal to informed readers both in and out of the academic field, from policy-makers to politicians.
With the book off his plate, Schultz is now struggling with the question of whether the increased importance of non-state armed groups is such that it should be viewed as a “global insurgency.”
While he is in Washington, DC, where he spends almost half his work week, Schultz tries to interact as much as possible with the kinds of organizations and people that can add to both his research areas and his teaching areas. “The pay-off is quite relevant and the connections definitely help,” he says, not only in finding additional material, but also when it comes time for his students to find jobs.
In general, Shultz’s view of educating both students and the public on security issues is “to give a theoretical, philosophical and historical basis for understanding the state of the world.”
Posted by jessica at December 8, 2005 02:58 PM
