Since 2017, Dr. Craig Whiteside has been an adjunct faculty member who teaches Counterterrorism in the Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies program. Dr. Craig Whiteside is also the Associate Professor at the Naval War College in Monterey, California, where he teaches national security affairs to military officers as part of their professional military education. He is a senior associate with the Center on Irregular Warfare and Armed Groups at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and a fellow at the International Centre for Counter-terrorism – The Hague and George Washington’s Program on Extremism. He has a PhD in Political Science from Washington State University and is a former U.S. Army officer with combat experience.

Areas of Interest

Whiteside’s current research focuses on the doctrinal influences on the leadership of the so-called Islamic State movement and its evolving strategies, as well as its propaganda efforts. His dissertation study at Washington State University was on the political worldview of the Islamic State of Iraq (2003-2013), the group that later became the Islamic State. A former U.S. Army officer with combat experience in Iraq, his experience there inspired his subsequent education and research on the Sunni Awakening movement and its battle with the Islamic State. View his recent publications on the Islamic State armed group.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD in Political Science, Washington State University
  • B.S. in Civil Engineering, United States Military Academy, West Point