Combining the Roles of Actor and Observer: Comments on Russell Burgos's “An N of 1”

Abstract

I read Captain Russell Burgos's essay with both delight and empathy. He is obviously a talented and thoughtful scholar who has served his country in a vital way in very interesting times. My empathy comes from the fact that for the last 25 years I have divided my life between academic institutions and the Pentagon, where I have been on the planning end of four conflicts. Like Mr. Burgos, I have lived in a world where the realities of war and peace should have been the laboratory for the theories of international relations that I have learned and taught. Like Mr. Burgos, however, I often find the reality of contemporary war to be confusing. The theories that I have studied are a rather incomplete guide to the problems—both tactical and strategic—that the global war on terrorism has brought us.Joseph J. Collins recently completed three years as deputy assistant secretary of defense for stability operations. During that time he was charged with some of the early planning for post-conflict Iraq, though he did not have day-to-day responsibility for policy management in that area. A former career army officer, he holds a PhD in political science from Columbia University and has taught at Georgetown, Columbia, and West Point.