Education

• B.A. University of Arizona
• M.A., M.P.A., Arizona State University
• M.A.I.R. University of Southern California (Munich)
• M.A. U.S. Naval War College
• Ph. D., M.Phil. Columbia University

Research Interests

• Civil-Military Relations
• Media
• Foreign Policy Decision-Making
• Security Studies and Strategy Education
• East Asia

Dr. Jay M. Parker is a Distinguished Professor and Major General Fox Conner Chair of International Security Studies in the College of International Security Affairs. From 2011 to 2016, he served as CISA’s Department Head for International Security Studies.

Following undergraduate studies, Dr. Parker served on the staff of Congressman Morris K. Udall (D-AZ). He returned to Arizona to work as a political media consultant. Commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army, he served as an infantry officer in Wiesbaden, Germany. He then served in the Department of Social Sciences of the United States Military Academy (West Point), and as a Psychological Operations (Psyop) officer at Fort Bragg, NC. After graduation from the US Naval War College, Dr. Parker returned to West Point as Director of International Relations and National Security Studies, and Professor of Public and International Affairs.

After retiring from active duty in 2005 in the rank of Colonel, Dr. Parker served as Executive Vice President of the Center for the Study of the Presidency, and Advisor and Center Liaison to the Iraq Study Group (the Baker-Hamilton Commission) before joining the Georgetown University faculty. He has also served on the faculties at Columbia and George Washington Universities. A Japan Society US-Japan Leader Fellow, he is a former Visiting Fellow at Princeton University and at Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies. He has served on advisory committees for the Museum of Television and Radio (now the Paley Center), Center for Civilians in Conflict, and the Truman National Security Project.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is the former chair of the International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association (ISA). He was a member of the Defense Policy Team and the Veterans advisory group for the Obama Presidential Campaign and served on the 2008 Presidential Transition.

Dr. Parker is the author of Restoring Thucydides: Testing Familiar Lessons and Deriving New Ones with Andrew R. Novo. He is a frequent lecturer and conference panelist in the US, Europe, and Asia. His research and publication areas include International Relations, Security Studies, Mass Media and Politics, American Foreign Policy, and East Asian Politics and Security. 

Last Updated: 6 January 2022