Dr. Bernard I. Finel became Dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies February 2024. Before joining the Marshall Center Team, Dr. Finel was faculty at the U.S. National War College in Washington, D.C. from 2010-2024, where he served as a Course Director (2011-2014), Chair of the Department of Security Studies (2016-2017), and Associate Dean of Academic Programs (2018-2020).

From 2006-2010, Dr. Finel served as a Senior Fellow and Director of Research at the American Security Project (ASP), where he conducted research on counterterrorism and defense policy. He was the lead author of ASP’s annual report, Are We Winning? Measuring Progress in the Struggle against Violent Jihadism (2007).

Prior to joining ASP, Dr. Finel was a professor of military strategy and operations at the U.S. National War College from 2004 to 2006. From 1994 to 2004, he held various positions at Georgetown University, most notably as Executive Director of the Security Studies Program and Center for Peace and Security Studies from 2001 to 2004. He was also on the visiting faculty of the School of Foreign Service and a member of the core faculty of the M.A. Program in Security Studies.

His areas of expertise include Strategic Competition, Terrorism & Irregular Warfare, Use of Force and Military History.

Dr. Finel has published widely on international politics and security. He is co-author and co-editor of two books, Power and Conflict in the Age of Transparency (2000), one of the first volumes to systematically examine the influence of increasing international transparency on international security, and Ultimate Security: Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (2003), which highlighted the challenges to the non-proliferation regime and stressed the ineffectiveness of the U.S. government’s response to the issue. His research has been published in the journals Security Studies, International Security, Aerospace Power Journal, International Studies Quarterly, National Security Studies Quarterly, Armed Forces Journal and World Affairs.