Security Studies Scholar & Intelligence Professional
PhD Candidate, Kansas State University • Intelligence Officer, Department of Defense • Founder, The Security Nexus, LLC
Research at the intersection of intelligence accountability, surveillance governance, and democratic resilience.
I am a PhD candidate in Security Studies at Kansas State University and an active Intelligence Officer within the Department of Defense, where I currently serve as a Program Director and Strategist. My career spans more than two decades of U.S. government service across the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the U.S. Army, with assignments in HUMINT operations, counterintelligence, and cyber and information operations analysis.
The research draws on case studies from Latin America and Southern Europe, combining archival analysis with institutional theory. It speaks directly to ongoing debates in comparative politics, security sector reform, and the governance of intelligence in emerging and consolidating democracies.
Alongside the dissertation, my work on ubiquitous technical surveillance (UTS) examines the legal, organizational, and counterintelligence implications of mass collection infrastructure — a manuscript currently under review at Intelligence and National Security. Both projects reflect a consistent preoccupation: what happens to democratic institutions when the most powerful tools of social control are inherited, rather than built, by governments that claim to have changed?
The Security Nexus, LLC — my Maryland-based national security consultancy, blog, and podcast.
The Inheritance Problem: Intelligence and Security Services in Post-Authoritarian Democracies
A comparative study of intelligence reform outcomes in Chile, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, and Spain. The central argument: democratic accountability depends on whether a reform strategy targets the specific formation-era mechanisms generating institutional resistance — a problem of strategy-mechanism correspondence, not political will alone.
In Progress — KSU / Expected 2027Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance: Governance, Counterintelligence, and Democratic Accountability
An analysis of mass surveillance infrastructure as a governance problem — examining the legal frameworks, organizational cultures, and counterintelligence implications of ubiquitous technical collection in liberal democracies.
Under Review — Intelligence and National SecurityThe Security Nexus, LLC
Strategic consulting, intelligence analysis, and public scholarship through blogging and podcasting. Topics include cyber escalation, hybrid warfare, intelligence community analysis, and AI in national security.
thesecuritynexus.net →"Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance: Counterintelligence Bliss, or Nightmare?"
Examines the counterintelligence and governance implications of mass collection infrastructure, arguing that ubiquitous surveillance presents a paradox: capabilities designed to protect national security simultaneously generate structural vulnerabilities and democratic accountability deficits.
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.23516.16002 →"Spider Web: Al-Qaeda's Link to the Intelligence Agencies of the Major Powers"
Analyzes the intelligence relationships between Al-Qaeda and state intelligence services, assessing the degree to which major-power agencies had knowledge of or operational contact with the network prior to and following the September 11 attacks.
DOI: 10.1080/08850607.2015.992753 →"Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance" — Emerging and Disruptive Technologies Conference, National Security Agency
"The Internet and the Radicalization of Islamic Women" — SOVEREIGN CHALLENGE, Washington, D.C.; Western Political Science Association, Seattle
Full curriculum vitae available on request.
Contact for CVI welcome inquiries about research collaboration, co-authorship, conference panels, fellowship programs, consulting engagements, and speaking invitations.
My work sits at a productive intersection: intelligence practice, comparative politics, and security governance. If you are researching post-authoritarian transitions, intelligence accountability, surveillance policy, or related topics in Latin America or Southern Europe, I am likely interested in talking.
I am also available for consulting on intelligence reform, HUMINT program assessment, and surveillance governance analysis for academic institutions, policy organizations, and government partners.
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