James R. Holmes, Ph.D.

Professor Strategy and Policy Department
James R Holmes Profile Image

Biography

James Holmes holds the J. C. Wylie Chair of Maritime Strategy at the Naval War College and served on the faculty of the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs. A former U.S. Navy surface-warfare officer, he was the last gunnery officer in history to fire a battleship’s big guns in anger, during the first Gulf War in 1991. He earned the Naval War College Foundation Award in 1994, signifying the top graduate in his class. His books include Red Star over the Pacific, an Atlantic Monthly Best Book of 2010 and a fixture on the Navy Professional Reading List. General James Mattis deems him “troublesome.”

Areas of Expertise

  • A2/AD
  • Asia-Pacific
  • China
  • Desert Storm
  • Diplomacy
  • Geopolitics
  • Indian Ocean
  • International Relations
  • Maritime Strategy

Professional Highlights

2007

Professor of Strategy, Naval War College

Associate professor, 2007-2012; full professor, 2017-present. Visiting professor of national security affairs, 2016.
2002

Faculty, University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs, Athens, GA

Taught undergraduate international relations in Honors Program and arms control at School of Public and International Affairs; research into nonproliferation, maritime counterproliferation, and export controls. Faculty Associate, 2007-present.
2001

Staff Columnist, Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, Athens, GA

Biweekly column on foreign and defense affairs.
1998

Research Associate, Institute for Foreign Policy, Cambridge, MA

Research into European and Middle East defense affairs; contributing editor to quarterly series of reports titled "Security Issues in the Middle East" in conjunction with ESAI Inc., Wakefield, MA.
1987

Surface Warfare Officer, U.S. Navy

Repair officer and gunnery officer, USS WISCONSIN (BB-64); steam engineering and damage control instructor, Surface Warfare Officers School Command, Newport, RI; military professor of strategy, Naval War College, Newport, RI.

Education

Ph.D., Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, International Relations

M.A., Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Law and Diplomacy

M.A., Providence College, Mathematics

Diploma, Naval War College, National Security and Strategic Studies

M.A., Salve Regina University, International Relations

B.A., Vanderbilt University, Mathematics and German, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa

C.V. or Resume

Related Credentials

U.S. Navy Master Training Specialist

Research Contributions and Publications

A Brief Guide to Maritime Strategy
Naval Institute Press
2020

Red Star over the Pacific, 2nd ed.
Naval Institute Press
2018

Strategy in the Second Nuclear Age
Georgetown University Press
2012

Defending the Strait: Taiwan's Naval Strategy in the 21st Century
Brookings Institution Press/Jamestown Foundation
2011

Red Star over the Pacific
Naval Institute Press
2010
Paperback 2013

Indian Naval Strategy in the 21st Century
Routledge
2009
Paperback 2010

Chinese Naval Strategy in the 21st Century: The Turn to Mahan
Routledge
2008
Paperback 2009

Asia Looks Seaward
Praeger
2007

Nuclear Security Culture
NATO Security through Science Series/IOS Press
2007

Theodore Roosevelt and World Order
Potomac/University of Nebraska Press
2006
Paperback 2007

Nuclear Security Culture: The Case of Russia
University of Georgia Center for International Trade and Security
2004

Awards and Decorations

Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Medal
2016

Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal
1996

Navy Achievement Medal
1994

Naval War College Foundation Award
1994

City of Newport Award
1994

Top Snipe Award
1994

Officer Engineering Instructor of the Year, Surface Warfare Officers School Command
1993-1994

Navy Commendation Medal
1991

Combat Action Ribbon
1991

Other Honors

Van Beuren Distinguished Visiting Fellow
University of Georgia, 2016

Hugh G. Nott Prize
Naval War College Review, 2008

Hugh G. Nott Prize
Naval War College Review, 2005

Carnegie Scholars nominee
University of Georgia, 2004

International Security Studies Dissertation Fellowship
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1998-2003

Earhart Fellow
Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, 1998-1999

A. Eiken Hohenberg Scholar
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1996-1998

U.S. Naval Institute Award
Vanderbilt University, 1987

External Memberships and Associations

Pi Mu Epsilon mathematics honorary
1997-present

Naval War College Foundation
1994-present

USS Wisconsin Association
1991-present

Phi Beta Kappa
1987-present

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