James S. Robbins is the award winning Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs at the Washington Times, an author, political commentator and professor, with an expertise in national security, and foreign and military affairs. He served as special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and is Senior Fellow for National Security Affairs on the American Foreign Policy Council

American Foreign Policy Council

The American Foreign Policy Council is a conservative non-profit U.S. foreign policy think tank operating in Washington, D.C., since 1982...

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His books include This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive (2010) and Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett and the Goats of West Point (2006). He is also a political commentator and contributing editor for National Review Online

National Review

National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...

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Early life and education

James S. Robbins was born in 1962. He earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Political Science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 from the University of Cincinnati

University of Cincinnati

The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....

. He received a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (M.A.L.D.) and Ph.D.

Ph.D.

A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University is the oldest school in the United States dedicated solely to graduate studies in international affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's foremost schools of international affairs. Every Fall, the school enrolls approximately 265...

 in Medford, Massachusetts

Medford, Massachusetts

Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...

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Career

Robbins taught at The Fletcher School, Boston University

Boston University

Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

, Marine Corps University

Marine Corps University

The Marine Corps University reports to the United States Marine Corps Training And Education Command. It was established on August 1, 1989 by General Alfred M...

, National Defense University

National Defense University

The National Defense University is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level training, education, and the development of national security strategy. It is chartered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with Navy Vice Admiral...

, and other schools. Robbins served in the federal government for ten years, including as special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

In 2007, Robbins was appointed Director of the Intelligence Community Center at Trinity Washington University

Trinity Washington University

Trinity Washington University, founded in 1897 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, is a Roman Catholic university located in Washington, D.C. across from Catholic University of America and the Dominican House of Studies...

. In 2008, he was selected as Program Chair of the Master of Arts in International Security Studies at Trinity Washington.

In 2009, Robbins was appointed Senior Editorial Writer for Foreign Affairs at the Washington Times.

In addition to writing two books, he has written frequent articles for the National Review

National Review

National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...

, the Washington Times, and a variety of other publications, including The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....

, USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

, The Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....

, The Boston Herald and other publications. He is a frequent commentator on national and international television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and radio.

Robbins is Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council

American Foreign Policy Council

The American Foreign Policy Council is a conservative non-profit U.S. foreign policy think tank operating in Washington, D.C., since 1982...

. He serves on the Advisory Board of the National Civil War Museum

National Civil War Museum

The National Civil War Museum, located at One Lincoln Circle at Reservoir Park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is a permanent, nonprofit educational institution created to promote the preservation of material culture and sources of information that are directly relevant to the American Civil War of...

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Books

• This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive (2010)
• Last in Their Class: Custer, Pickett and the Goats of West Point (2006)

Articles

• “Afghanistan: Back To Basics,” in The Journal of International Security Affairs no. 15, Fall 2008, pp. 79-88.

• “Custer: The Goat at West Point and at War,” in Custer and His Times: Book Five, John P. Hart (ed), LaGrange Park, IL: Little Big Horn Associates (2008).

• “Dangerous Deterrence,” in Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic, Ilan Berman (ed), Washington: Rowman & Littlefield (2007).

• “Insurgent Seizure of an Urban Area: Grozny, 1996,” in Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century: International Perspectives, Volume III, James J.F. Forest (ed), McGraw Hill (2006).

• “Battlefronts in the War of Ideas,” in Countering Terrorism and Insurgency in the 21st Century: International Perspectives, Volume I, James J.F. Forest (ed), McGraw Hill (2006).

• “Iraq,” in Flashpoints in the War on Terrorism, Derek Reveron (ed), New York: Routledge Publishers (2006).

• “Contemporary Operational-Level War Fighting” – a review of Nicholas E. Reynolds, Basrah, Baghdad, and Beyond: The U.S. Marine Corps in the Second Iraq War, Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2005, in the Naval War College Review, Spring 2006, Vol. 59, No. 2, pp. 157-161.

• “Soft Targets: Hard Choices,” in Homeland Security: Protecting America’s Targets, James J.F. Forest (ed), Westport, CT: Praeger Security International (2006).

• "Al-Qaeda Versus Democracy," Journal of International Security Affairs No. 9 (Fall 2005).

• “Terrorism, the Media, and Homeland Security,” in Homeland Security: Controlling the New Security Environment, Howard, Moore and Forest (eds), Guilford, CT: McGraw Hill Publishers (2005).

• “Defeating Networked Terrorism,” in Defeating Terrorism: Shaping the New Security Environment, Howard and Sawyer (eds.), Guilford, CT: McGraw Hill Publishers (2004).

• “Central Command: Tip of the Spear” in America’s Viceroys: The Military and U.S. Foreign Policy, Derek Reveron (ed.), New York: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers (2004).

• “Bin Laden’s War,” in Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment, Howard and Sawyer (eds.), Guilford, CT: McGraw Hill Publishers (2003).

Legacy and honors

• Robbins is the recipient of the 2010 Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association award for editorial writing.

• In 2007, he was awarded the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award
  Meritorious Civilian Service Award
  The Meritorious Civilian Service Award is commonly the second highest award and medal provided to civilian employees within agencies of the federal government of the United States...
  
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• In 2001, he was awarded the U.S. Department of State, Secretary’s Open Forum Distinguished Public Service Award.

External links

• Washington Times Editorials, Author archive.
• National Review Online, Author archive.
• Last in Their Class, Author website.