Commander (Ret.) Patrick J. Paterson
Areas of Expertise:
•Civil-Military Relations
•Human Rights
•Counter-Insurgency
•U.S. and Latin American History
Biography:
Pat Paterson is Assistant Professor of National Security Studies at the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies. A 1989 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, he retired from the U.S. Navy as a Commander in 2009. His last assignment was as the Political-Military Advisor and Senior Foreign Area Officer (FAO) on the Fourth Fleet staff in Mayport, FL. He has a Masters degree in National Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA and a Masters equivalent from the Argentina Naval War College in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is currently completing a doctoral degree in Political Science at American University. As part of those studies, he has researched and written on numerous topics about Latin America including civil-military relations, U.S. foreign policy, democracy, human rights, social movements, political violence, and counterinsurgency. He is the author of numerous defense and security related articles in journals such as Military Review, Armed Forces Journal, Proceedings Magazine, Joint Force Quarterly, and Naval History. His principle areas of expertise include civil-military relations, human rights, counter-insurgency, and U.S. and Latin American history.
Publications:
Books:
•"U.S. Support for Colombia, 1994-2010." Chapter in Colombia's Road to Recovery: Security and Governance, 1994-2010. National Defense University Press, 2012. (forthcoming)
•"Gulf of Guinea Security," McGraw-Hill Annual Editions: World Politics 08/09 college textbook. "AFRICOM – The Pentagon's New African Command," McGraw-Hill Annual Editions: World Politics 08/09 college textbook.
Journals and Magazines:
•Forthcoming, "Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy in Latin America," Strategy and Defense Studies Review (SDSR), National Defense University.
•September 2009, "Limits to Civilian Authority?" Armed Forces Journal.
•May 2009, "Our Waning Influence to the South," U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings Magazine.
•July 2008, "SOUTHCOM Turns to Soft Power," U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings Magazine.
•July/August 2008, "African Peacekeeping Operations," U.S. Army Combined Arms Center's Military Review. Also published on South Africa Defense Force's Defense Web, Nov 2008.
•February 2008, "Top Secret Documents Reveal the Truth about the Gulf of Tonkin," U.S. Naval Institute's Navy History Magazine.
•October 2007, "Taking Africa Seriously," U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings Magazine.
•April 2007, "Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea", National Defense University's Joint Force Quarterly.
•September 2006, "Navy FAO Skills in High Demand in EUCOM AOR", U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings Magazine.
•May 2006, "U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Counter-Terror Operations in Africa", U.S. Naval Institute's Proceedings Magazine.