War Studies

By Shawn Greene ’13
Political science
Hollywood, Fla.
Second language: French
Study abroad program: War studies, King’s College, London

What it’s like: King’s is a really big university in London that specializes in war studies. Its primary focus is on contemporary warfare, terrorism, and strategic thought.

Studies at Mac: As a first-year student I took the political science class Regional Conflict and Security with Andrew Latham and I just honed in on that topic as something I really wanted to study. I took International Security, also with Latham, and Political Violence and Global Governance, and then did the semester at King’s.

Military internship: I interned last summer at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Penn., at the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute. I chose it because I had the opportunity to work on the incorporation of a new operational concept, Mass Atrocity Response Operations (MARO), into U.S. Army and joint military doctrine. I helped write the MARO appendix for the Multi-Service tactical manual for Peace Operations.

What surprised me most: I was taken with how intellectual members of the upper echelons of the military are. The officers I encountered at the war college are some of the sharpest people I’ve ever met—disciplined, visionary, optimistic, knowledgeable.

Honors project: My honors project is about peace enforcement in ongoing civil war, and the variables that determine mission outcomes in a variety of cases.

After Mac: I’m part way through the Department of State application process to become a Foreign Service officer. If I pass all three sections—and very few people do, less than 3 percent—I’ll be placed on a Foreign Service officer list and eventually called up for commission. Language proficiency can improve your placement on the list, but isn’t required.

What I know for sure: Regardless of how the Foreign Service application goes, I’ll spend the summer after graduation at Middlebury College doing an immersion program in French to improve my language skills. I’m also applying to graduate school programs in international relations.