Nathan K. Finney is an Army Strategist (FA59) currently serving as a special assistant to the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in the Commander’s Action Group.
Nate earned a Ph.D. in History at Duke University in 2022 while also serving as a Goodpaster Scholar. Previously, he received master’s degrees in Public Administration from Harvard University and the University of Kansas, and a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Arizona. Nate’s research focuses on national security decision-making, strategy, civil-military relations, military policy, mobilization, and war. His Ph.D. dissertation, “‘All War Arrangements are but Schools in Patience’: The North Carolina Council of Defense and the Associational State, 1917-1919” explores the creation, structure, activities, and impact of a key institution in the mobilization of the United States for the First World War, and ultimately the nature of American governance during wartime.
Nate is a managing editor at the British Journal for Military History, a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal for Military History, a senior mentor for the Project on International Peace and Security (PIPS) at the College of William & Mary, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a founder of three non-profits - The Strategy Bridge, the Military Writers Guild (and currently serving as the president), and the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum - and was a Visiting Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a former Non-Resident Fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point. Nate is the co-editor and author of the book Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics, and the editor and author of On Strategy: A Primer. His first academic book, “Orchestrating Power,” will be published by Cornell University Press in late 2025.
You can contact Nate on BlueSky.
BOOKS AND BOOK CHAPTERS
The Human Terrain Team Handbook, Government Printing Office, September 2008.
Commander’s Handbook: Employing a Human Terrain Team, Center for Army Lessons Learned, March 2009.
Personal Theories of Power: The Bridge-CIMSEC Compendium, editor, The Strategy Bridge, June 2014.
Mission Command in the 21st Century: Empowering to Win in a Complex World, editor, the Army University Press and The Strategy Bridge, April 2016.
Military Leadership in the 21st Century: The Bridge Compendium, editor, The Strategy Bridge, May 2016.
Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics, editor and author, United States Naval Institute Press, 15 October 2018.
On Strategy: A Primer, editor and author, Army University Press, 15 June 2020.
“The Profession of Arms,” in Katherine Carroll and William B. Hickman, eds., Understanding the U.S. Military (New York: Routledge, 2022).
“‘To Render Effective Service’: The Associational State, the North Carolina Council of Defense, and U.S. Military Conscription for the First World War,” in Amy Rutenberg, ed., Conscription in the Global Twentieth Century (under contract with University Press of Kansas, due for publication in 2025).
Orchestrating Power: The American Associational State in the First World War (under contract with Cornell University Press, due for publication in 2025).
Book Project (research phase): The United States and Taiwan in the Cold War.
ARTICLES and Reports
“Unity of Effort: A Culture of Cooperation and the Cooperation of Cultural Systems,” Armor and Cavalry Journal, January/February 2009.
“Human Terrain Support to Current Operations,” Infantry Magazine, March/April 2009.
“Developing Foreign Security Forces In the Era of Persistent Conflict,” Army Magazine, January 2010.
“A Culture of Inclusion: Defense, Diplomacy, and Development as a Modern American Foreign Policy,”Small Wars Journal, 26 September 2010.
“Building Police Capacity in Afghanistan: The Challenges of a Multilateral Approach,” PRISM, Volume 2, Number 1, November 2010.
“Security, Capacity, and Literacy,” Military Review, January/February 2011.
“Building the Security Force that Won’t Leave,” Joint Forces Quarterly, July 2011.
“Developing a Sustainable Security Force,” Canadian Military Journal, July 2011.
“Helping the Afghans Help Themselves,” Proceedings, July 2011.
“Austere Challenge 2009: Exercising Unity of Effort,” Armor and Cavalry Journal, July/August 2011.
“The Army Ethic, Public Trust, and the Profession of Arms,” Military Review, September 2011.
“Doctrine at the Speed of War: A 21st Century Paradigm for Army Knowledge,” Army Magazine, March 2011.
“Why Operational Access Is No Revolution,” Rethinking Security, 3 April 2012.
“Using Technology to Train America’s Decisive Force,” Army Magazine, May 2012.
“Advisors: Creating a Strategic Effect or Political Window Dressing?,” Kabul Cable, 21 September 2012.
"Air-Sea Battle as a Military Contribution to Strategy Development," Infinity Journal, 31 October 2012.
"Preventing Mass Atrocities in Sub-Saharan Africa through Strategic Engagement," Military Review, 1 November 2012.
"Values and National Security: The Value of an Education in Power," Diplomatic Courier, 19 January 2013.
"Constructive Disruption: The Defense Entrepreneurs Forum," Small Wars Journal, 5 April 2013.
"Fostering Military Entrepreneurs," Armed Forces Journal, 25 August 2013.
"Using the Threat of Violence to Contain Syria: An External Approach," Infinity Journal, Volume 3, Issue No. 3, Summer 2013, pages 13-16.
"Why the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum Matters: Peripheral Networks & Innovation," War on the Rocks, 21 October 2013.
"Out of Balance: Rebalancing Access and Overcoming Denial," The Journal of Military Operations, 20 January 2014.
"On 'US Options in Syria'," Parameters, January 2014.
"Relativity and Negotiation: Core Elements of a General Theory of Strategy," Infinity Journal, The Strategy Bridge Special Edition, March 2014, pages 22-25.
"An Attack Comes Home: A Reflection," The Citizen, 28 April 2014.
"The Defense Entrepreneurs Forum: Developing a Culture of Innovation," Military Review, July-August 2014, pages 44-49.
"How to Discover Defense Innovation," War on the Rocks, 16 October 2014.
"The Long Gray Online," Cicero Magazine, 25 November 2014.
"Preparing Soldiers for Uncertainty," Military Review, Jan-Feb 2015.
"After Regime Change: Dunsinane as a Window into War and Warfare," Asides, February 2015.
"2026: Operation Iranian Freedom," The Bridge, August 2015.
"Land Power: More than Simply the Element of Decision," Infinity Journal, Volume 5, Issue 1, Fall 2015, pages 30-32.
"Consequences of Fear: Callousness," Consequence Magazine, March 2016.
"The Myth of Russian Aggression and NATO Expansion," The Bridge, December 2016.
"A High-Tech Call to Arms: Mobilizing the Masses in the Twenty-First Century," The Modern War Institute, 3 February 2017.
"Fresh thinking to deal with ‘not quite wars’ (part 1)," The Strategist, 20 July 2017.
"Fresh thinking to deal with ‘not quite wars’ (part 2)," The Strategist, 14 September 2017.
"Integration in warfare," The Strategist, 11 September 2017.
"AI wanted on ground to protect and attack," The Australian, 1 December 2017; also found at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
"Whither the Hover Tank: Why We Can't Predict the Future of Warfare," Modern War Institute, 12 June 2018.
“Preventing a Glass Cannon: Increasing the Flexibility and Stamina of the Australian Army,” Centre of Gravity Series Paper #52, Australian National University, 6 July 2020.
“‘Building a great organization for war’: The Associational State and Woman’s War Work in North Carolina, 1917-1919,” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era Volume 22, Issue 2, April 2023 , pages 114–142.
“Building a Community: How To Create a Professional Writing Network,” Military Review, Special Edition, September 2024.
PRESENTATIONS, Podcasts, and Courses
"Is Disruptive Thinking Applicable to the Military?" Defense Entrepreneurs Forum, University of Chicago, October 2013 (video at 35 minutes).
"Leadership Development for Junior and Mid-Grade Leaders," Twitter Military Leader Exchange, San Francisco, October 2015.
"On the (mis)use of history," The Pen and the Sword Podcast, 4 April 2016.
"Digital Learning and Leadership in the Army," Annual Meeting of the Association of the US Army, Washington, DC, October 2016.
"Grassroots Innovation in the National Security Domain," US Military Academy Center for the Advancement of Leader Development & Organizational Learning, West Point, NY, November 2016.
"Writing in the Profession of Arms," Defense Entrepreneurs Forum - Australia, December 2016.
"Storytelling from the Front Line," Modern War Institute, United States Military Academy at West Point, 13 February 2017.
"Perception and Reality in Future Conflict," Young Australians in Foreign Affairs, Future21 Conference, 8 September 2017.
"In Conversation with the Deputy Chief of Army," Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 12 October 2017.
"Perception and Reality in Future Conflict," Australian Defence Force Academy, 19 October 2017.
On the Future of War, The Dead Prussian Podcast, 13 December 2017.
Ethics, Professionalism, Education & the Military Professional, Midrats Podcast, 12 August 2018.
Military Professionalism in the Modern Age, Dole Institute of Politics, 9 October 2018.
Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession and Ethics, New Books Network, 31 October 2018.
Pritzker Military Presents: Redefining the Modern Military: The Intersection of Profession, Pritzker Military Museum and Library, Chicago, IL, 6 November 2018.
The Profession of Arms: Continuity and Change, Australian Defence College, 4 March 2019.
Redefining the Modern American Military, National WWI Museum and Memorial, 13 July 2019.
Commentator for Michael Fasulo’s paper, “Struggling with Satan: Limited War, ICBM Vulnerability, and the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks” at the Triangle Institute for Security Studies New Faces Conference, October 2019.
Writing #OnStrategy, Military Writers Guild, 20 June 2020.
The Military Online...and in Public View, TYFYS Podcast, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 21 August 2020.
Strategy and Military History, Guest Lecture, HIST 116 – Military History, College of Charleston, Professor Adam Domby, 1 September 2020.
Strategy, Guest Lecture, National Security Management Course, Department of National Security Studies, The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, Professor Steven Grundman, 22 Oct 2020.
Commentator for Elizabeth Grasmeder’s paper, “Brothers in Arms: Foreign Legions, National Armies, and Re-examining Citizenship and Military Service” at the Triangle Institute for Security Studies New Faces Conference, 23 Oct 2020.
Tactics, Operations, Strategy, and Grand Strategy, Guest Lecture, PPS 320/PS 328/HIST 322 – Statecraft & Strategy, Duke University, Professor Simon Miles, 26 Jan 2021.
Military Innovation, Strategy, and China, Guest Lecture, GOVT 404-4 – Strategy and Winning War, College of William & Mary, Professor Dennis Alcides Velazco Smith, 17 Feb 2021.
The Military Profession, Guest Lecture, PSCI 2230 – The United States Military, Vanderbilt University, Professor Katherine Blue Carroll, 7 Apr 2021.
“The Associational State and Woman’s War Work in North Carolina, 1917-1919,” presentation at the Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Society for the History of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era Lightning Round, 15 Apr 2021.
“The Associational State and Woman’s War Work in North Carolina, 1917-1919,” presentation at Military Frontiers Graduate Student Symposium: An Interdisciplinary Conversation on National Security, Ohio State University, 16 Apr 2021.
“Negotiated Settlement: The Council of Defense System and State Mobilization for the First World War,” Revolutionary Foundations: The Building of National Capabilities for Industrial War panel, Society for Military History Annual Conference, 20-23 May 2021.
Commentator, Ethos of War: Cultural Forces and the Transformation of American Warfighting, 1945-2007 panel, Society for Military History Annual Conference, 20-23 May 2021.
The United States and the First World War, Guest Lecture, HIST 390 – America and the World, 1898 to the Present, Duke University, Professor Susan Colbourn, 7 Sep 2021.
Presenter, “‘To Render Effective Service’: The Council of Defense System, North Carolina, and Military Manpower for the First World War,” Triangle Institute for Security Studies New Faces Conference, 18 Sep 2021.
“All War Arrangements are but Schools in Patience”: The North Carolina Council of Defense and the Associational State, 1916-1919,” Shining Light in the Dark Corners: Exploring Understudied Areas of the First World War panel, Society for Military History Annual Conference, 27 April-1 May 2022.
“Operational and Strategic Art,” The Operational Art Podcast, School for Advanced Military Studies (projected for Feb 2023)
“The Burden Sharing Dilemma,” Social Science of War Podcast, U.S. Military Academy.
“2024 Symposium: War and Morality Digital Summit,” The National WWI Museum and Memorial, 15-16 November 2024.