Risa Brooks

Dr. Risa Brooks is the Allis-Chalmers Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, a Fellow in the Future Security program at New America, and a Non-Resident Senior Associate in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Her current research primarily focuses on U.S. and comparative civil-military relations in democratic states, security forces/sectors and contentious politics. She also maintains a longstanding interest in the armed forces of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and in armed forces in non-democracies. Most recently, much of her research focuses on the role of the armed forces in eroding democracies and explores both how political leaders implicate the military in anti-democratic initiatives and how militaries variously respond in ways that both advance and impede democratic regression. 

Dr. Brooks is the author and editor of several books, including “Shaping Strategy: The Civil-Military Politics of Strategic Assessment” (Princeton University Press). Her research has also appeared in leading journals including International Security, Annual Review of Political Science, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Security Studies, Armed Forces & Society, Journal of Strategic Studies, European Journal of International Security, and Journal of Global Security Studies. Her scholarship often aims to bridge regional and subfield divides, especially in the study of civil-military relations. Currently she is working on a co-edited volume that examines patterns of politicization of the military in nine democracies around the globe.  

Beyond academia, Dr. Brooks regularly speaks to audiences of practitioners, including military personnel from the U.S. and other militaries. She also engages with the public through podcasts, articles, and blog posts that have appeared in publications such as Foreign Affairs, Just Security, World Politics Review, Carnegie Middle East Center, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Her commentary on contemporary U.S. civil-military relations is regularly cited by journalists. 

Dr. Brooks received her PhD from the University of California, San Diego, and has held positions as Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, Research Associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and Senior Fellow at the United States Military Academy at West Point.