Ambassador William M. Bellamy (ret.)
Director
Ambassador William M. Bellamy (ret.) officially became director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies on 1 October 2008. At the time of his appointment, he was resident senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. Previously he had served as Senior Vice President of National Defense University.A career diplomat, Ambassador Bellamy was U.S. ambassador to Kenya from 2003 to 2006. During his tenure in Kenya he directed U.S. security programs in the Horn of Africa. He also supervised the U.S. government’s largest foreign HIV/AIDS program and led multinational efforts to combat corruption and promote good governance in Kenya. He served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (2001-2003) and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (2000-2001).
His earlier diplomatic assignments include Deputy Chief of Mission in Canberra (1997-2000), Political Minister-Counselor in Paris (1993-1997) and Political Counselor in Pretoria and Cape Town (1991-1993). In South Africa he was closely engaged in U.S. diplomatic efforts to promote a peaceful transition from apartheid to democratic rule.
Ambassador Bellamy holds a BA in history from Occidental College and an MA in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University). He holds certificates from the Institute Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in Paris.
Ambassador Bellamy is the recipient of a Presidential Meritorious Service Award, the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Distinguished Civilian Service Award, and a Distinguished Honor Award and two Superior Honor Awards conferred by the Secretary of State. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he worked as a journalist in San Francisco and public relations officer for a major bank in Los Angeles.
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Colonel Gene McConville
Senior Military Advisor, Academic Affairs
U.S. Army Colonel Gene McConville joined the Africa Center in October 2010 for a three-year assignment as Senior Military Advisor, Academic Affairs. Colonel McConville oversees curriculum and program development in the area of International Crisis Response and Management. Prior to joining the Africa Center, Colonel McConville was a Staff Officer, International Security Assistance Force/U.S. Forces Afghanistan.He received his commission through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Armor Corps in 1983. Initial assignments included various command and staff positions with the 3rd Armored Division in Germany.
Colonel McConville has significant experience in Africa having served as the Army Attaché to the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1991-1994. During that assignment, Colonel McConville deployed to Somalia in support of humanitarian relief efforts (Operation Restore Hope) and reported on sectarian violence and the military government. From 1994-1996, Colonel McConville served in South Africa where he helped establish the first post-apartheid security assistance and training program which emphasized Rule of Law, African Peacekeeping/Security, Civil Military Relations, and South African National Defense Force Integration.
Colonel McConville also served in the Republic of Indonesia as the Army Attaché. He focused his reporting efforts on the Post-Suharto de-militarization of the Indonesia’s government structure, the emerging terrorist threat in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, and insurgent activities within Indonesia. From 2002 until 2010, he was assigned to various operational and diplomatic positions in both the Islamic Republics of Afghanistan and Pakistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Colonel McConville earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance) from St. Bonaventure University and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College. He also completed the National Security Manager’s Program sponsored by the Elliot School of International Affairs, George Washington University. He is proficient in Indonesian/Malay and has basic skills in Persian Farsi.
Colonel McConville’s awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and Army Achievement Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Areas of Expertise
Department of Defense, Interagency Collaboration/Operations, Embassy Operations, Political Military Affairs, Security Assistance, Counterterrorism, Civil Military Reform, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, Africa.
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Colonel Patrick de Vathaire
Senior French Representative
Colonel Patrick de Vathaire became the Senior French Representative at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in August 2011. Following his graduation from the “Officer Candidate School”, promotion of 1983, Colonel de Vathaire joined the « Troupes de Marine ». He subsequently gained an impressive depth of operational knowledge of Africa during his numerous visits to the Continent. In addition to participating in operations in Chad, the Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Gabon and Togo, he has also spent time at the heart of various African armed forces as both an instructor and military advisor. He commanded the 43rd Infantry Battalion from 2005 until 2006, based in the Ivory Coast. In between his African commitments, Colonel de Vathaire also served in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was the Operations Officer for the French Army Special Forces Regiment. Following 18 months at the Army War College and the Joint Advanced Staff College, he was firstly posted to the Joint Staff as Chief J3 Land from 2003 – 2005 then again as Chief J5 Africa in the Joint Operational Planning Centre (Centre de Planification et Conduite des Opérations) from 2008 to 2011. It is in this last role where his African expertise has come to the fore: he has been responsible for the strategic oversight and anticipation of potential crisis within Sub-Saharan Africa. He has had oversight of the French participation in the European EUFOR mission, the deployment of the UN mission to Chad, the crisis in the Ivory Coast, piracy off the Somalia coast and he has been actively involved in the study to reshape French participation in Africa.He holds the rank of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, is an officer of the National Order of Merit, holds “la croix de la valeur militaire” with 2 stars and is an Officer of the Rwandan National Order of Peace.
Dr. Assis Malaquias
Academic Chair for Defense Economics
Dr. Assis Malaquias is the Academic Chair for Defense Economics at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. In this capacity, Dr. Malaquias oversees curriculum and program development in the area of defense economics focusing on sound practices for the management of security sector resources in Africa, the relationship between security strategy and the allocation/utilization of national resources, and appropriate budgeting and procurement models in Africa. Prior to this position, Dr. Malaquias served as Associate Dean of International and Intercultural Studies and Professor of Government at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. He was Extraordinary Associate Professor of Political Studies at the University of Western Cape in South Africa and a visiting Professor at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.He holds a Master’s degree in Economics and a Ph. D. in Political Science from Dalhousie University, Canada. His areas of specialization include International Relations, International Security, International Political Economy, and African Politics. Dr. Malaquias’ current research focuses on the political economy security in central and southern Africa. His most recent publications include Rebels and Robbers: Violence in Post-Colonial Angola (Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute, November 2006); “Angola: How to Lose a Guerrilla War,” in Morten Boas and Kevin Dunn, eds., African Guerrillas: Raging Against the Machine (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2007); “Thirsty Powers: The United States, China and Africa’s Energy Resources,” in Manuela Franco, ed., Portugal, os Estados Unidos e a Africa Austral (Lisbon: Instituto Português de Relações Internacionais, 2006).
Publications
Areas of Expertise
Maritime Security, Political Economy of Security, Defense Economics, Lusophone Africa
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Dr. Benjamin P. Nickels
Assistant Professor of Transnational Threats and Counter-Terrorism
Benjamin P. Nickels, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Transnational Threats and Counter-Terrorism. In this capacity, Dr. Nickels oversees curriculum and program development in the area of transnational threats focusing on effective practices that promote civil–military cooperation, respect for democratic values, and safeguard of human rights.Prior to joining the Africa Center, Dr. Nickels was a faculty researcher at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence at the University of Maryland College Park.
At START, Dr. Nickels conducted research on the effectiveness and impacts of counter-terrorism measures. His work included case studies on counter-terrorism measures against al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the threat of homegrown Islamist terrorism in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Nickels holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Chicago. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar in Morocco, as well as a Chateaubriand fellow and Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) researcher in France. He has taught courses on counter-terrorism, political violence, and Muslim intellectual history. Dr. Nickels also has worked as an analyst and supervisor for a defense contractor in the U.S. Department of the Army.
Areas of Expertise
Counter-terrorism, Countering Extremism, Irregular Warfare, Identity Conflict, North Africa
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Dr. Carolyn Haggis
Instructor
Dr. Carolyn Haggis is an Instructor at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. In this capacity, Dr. Haggis develops curriculum for specific programs and organizes academic activities such as seminars, workshops, and roundtable discussions on contemporary African security issues. Her areas of specialization include African security institutions, particularly the African Union’s peace and security architecture, humanitarian intervention, international law on the use of force, and the “responsibility to protect”.
Prior to joining the Center, and while a graduate student at the University of Oxford, Dr. Haggis interned at the U.S. Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff and served as a research assistant at the University of Oxford’s Centre for International Studies and Department of Politics and International Relations.
Dr. Haggis holds a doctorate (D.Phil) in International Relations from the University of Oxford (Nuffield College), an M.Phil in International Relations, also from Oxford, and a B.S. in International Relations from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. She is proficient in French.
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Dr. John F. Kelly
Associate Dean
Dr. John F. Kelly arrived at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies as an Associate Dean in February 2010, bringing 35 years of experience in higher education, civil government and military science. He came to Washington, DC as an Associate Professor from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, where he was a Fulbright Scholar conducting research on comparative federalism. Dr. Kelly’s academic research has focused on retained sovereignty and policy development of subnational government, and he has received multiple teaching awards. He also served as an elected member of the Board of Governors of Wayne State University from 1998 to 2002.Professor Kelly holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (international relations and diplomatic history) and was a Graduate Fellow of Wayne State University. He also has a Juris Doctor degree from Michigan State University and is a diplomate in military law from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General School. He completed graduate studies at Georgetown University and holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Wayne State University. His baccalaureate degree is in political science and education from the University of Michigan with Honors. Dr. Kelly served as a Special Attorney General in Michigan from 1995 to 1999. He is a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, the Michigan Supreme Court and all subordinate Federal and State bars as well as the US Court of Military Appeals.
Associate Dean Kelly was elected to the Michigan State Senate in 1978 from Detroit at age 28 and served four consecutive four-year terms. In 1994 he stood for election to the U.S. Senate requiring retirement from the state legislature. In the Michigan Senate he served with distinction and leadership on committees with jurisdiction over the judiciary, banking and economic development, health policy, local government and public finance. John was elected at his first caucus to the leadership post of Majority Whip and authored over 100 pieces of legislation and amendments that became law, including the state investment anti-apartheid laws for South Africa and the McBride antidiscrimination employment laws for Northern Ireland. He served on the National Commission on Uniform Law, the Michigan Law Revision Commission and as a delegate to the National Conference on State Legislatures. Associate Dean Kelly served on a National Commission on Distressed States and is committed to projects to revitalize the City of Detroit. He served until 2009 as the elected Vice-Chair of the Michigan Film Advisory Board and is currently the Director of the Detroit Windsor International Film Festival going into its third year.
John retired in 2009 as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, Civil Affairs branch. As a Foreign Area Officer, he has served as a Defense Attache on multiple tours of Active Duty assigned primarily to the Republic of South Africa. In his reserve capacity he spent seven years as a liaison to Federal law enforcement on counter-terrorism research. A Graduate of Army Command and General Staff College he also spent 10 years as a staff Judge Advocate General. He has been decorated repeatedly for his contributions to the defense establishment during times of war.
Areas of Expertise
Internal Security and Homeland Defense, Civilian Policy Development, Electoral Reform and Democracy, Southern Africa
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Dr. Joseph Siegle
Director of Research
Dr. Joseph Siegle is the Director of Research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. In this capacity, he directs the Center’s research program with the aim of generating practical, evidence-based policy analysis that can contribute to addressing on-going and over-the-horizon security challenges in Africa. Dr. Siegle also oversees the Center’s Fellows program that aims to enrich understanding of Africa’s strategic and security priorities by providing an international platform for African scholars and analysts.
Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Siegle has served in a variety of scholar and practitioner roles. He was the Douglas Dillon Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, a Senior Research Scholar at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland (CISSM), a Senior Advisor for Democratic Governance at the international consulting firm, DAI, a Country Director with the international NGO, World Vision, and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Liberia. He has worked in some 40 countries around the world including numerous conflict-affected contexts in Western, Southern, and Eastern Africa.
Dr. Siegle’s research focuses on Africa-wide security challenges and trends; the linkages between political governance, development, and security; post-conflict reconstruction and the stabilization strategies for fragile states; redressing the natural resource curse; and strengthening institutions of accountability. He has published widely in leading journals and newspapers and is co-author of The Democracy Advantage: How Democracies Promote Prosperity and Peace (Routledge, revised edition 2009). Dr. Siegle earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy (International Security and Economic Policy) and holds an M.A. in Agricultural Economics (African food security) from Michigan State University.
Publications
Areas of Expertise
Post-conflict Reconstruction, Security and Development, Africa Security Challenges, Democratization, Stabilization of Fragile States, Natural Resources and Conflict, Trans-Africa
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Dr. Mathurin C. Houngnikpo
Academic Chair of Civil-Military Relations
Dr. Mathurin C. Houngnikpo is the Academic Chair of Civil-Military Relations at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. In this capacity, Dr. Houngnikpo oversees curriculum and program development in the area of civil-military relations focusing on Africa’s military history, democratic civil control of the security sector, and issues of accountability, transparency and good governance. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Houngnikpo taught in the Program of International Studies at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He also held several teaching positions with both the Metropolitan State College of Denver and the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Houngnikpo served as Head of the Department of Consular Documents for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Benin from 1983-1986 and again from 1989-1990. He also served as Associate Editor for Africa Today, a publication of the University of Denver’s Graduate School in International Studies. Dr. Houngnikpo was a Fulbright Grantee, and participated in the George W. Shepherd Fellowship as well as a recipient of grants and awards for research and leadership.
He is the author of L’Afrique au Futur Conditionnel (2011); Guarding the Guardians: Civil-Military Relations and Democratic Governance in Africa (2010); Elections and Democratization in West Africa: 1990-2009 (with A. Saine and B. N’Diaye, 2011); Africa’s Elusive Quest for Development (2006); Economic Integration & Development in Africa (with H. Kyambalesa, 2006); Not Yet Democracy: West Africa’s Slow Farewell to Authoritarianism (with B. N’Diaye and A. Saine, 2005); L’Illusion Démocratique en Afrique (2004); Des Mots pour les Maux de l’Afrique (2004); Determinants of Democratization in Africa (2001), and other books and articles.
He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Paris VIII, Saint-Denis, France and a Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Denver (US). Dr. Houngnikpo is fluent in French and has a working knowledge of Spanish.
Publications
Areas of Expertise
Security Sector Reform, Democratization, Civil Military Relations, West Africa
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Dr. Monde Muyangwa
Academic Dean
Dr. Monde Muyangwa currently serves as Academic Dean at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. In this capacity, she oversees all curriculum and program development for the Africa Center, including in the areas of Security Studies, Counter-Terrorism, Civil-Military Relations, Defense Economics, and Conflict ManagementDr. Muyangwa possesses an extensive background in African development and U.S.-Africa relations. She currently participates on a number of Africa-related programs, including serving on the Advisory Council of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, a project of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Before joining the Africa Center, she worked as Director of Research and then Vice President for Research and Policy at the National Summit on Africa from 1997-2000. There, she was responsible for overseeing the research, writing, and production of the Summit’s publications pertaining to U.S.-Africa relations.
Prior to joining the Summit, she worked as Director of International Education Programs at New Mexico Highlands University, and as Tutor in African History, Politics and Economics at St. Clare’s College, Oxford. She has served as a development and gender consultant, and has worked on a wide range of community development projects in southern Africa in the areas of education, housing, health, and nutrition. She has co-authored, with Margaret Vogt, a publication for the International Peace Academy titled An Assessment of the Organization of African Unity’s Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution.
She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford, as well as a BA in Public Administration and Economics from the University of Zambia. She was a Rhodes Scholar, a Wingate Scholar, and the University of Zambia Class of 1986 Valedictory Speaker.
Areas of Expertise
Southern Africa
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Michael E. Garrison, Colonel, U.S. Army (ret.)
Deputy Director
Mr. Mike Garrison, Colonel U.S. Army (ret.), assumed duties as the Deputy Director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in May 2009. He brings more than 28 years of management, policy development, peacekeeping and operations experience including over a decade of uninterrupted African political and military affairs experience to his new position as a senior member of the Africa Center’s leadership team. He is the Director’s chief operating officer and principle advisor for strategic planning and policy analysis and responsible for the development of Africa Center programs to support the United States policy communities’ African affairs goals.
Mr. Garrison retired from the U.S. Army in May after 28 years of active duty and assumed this senior executive level position at the Africa Center. Immediately prior to his retirement, he served as the Director for the Southern Africa Region in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for African Affairs. There he managed all aspects of bilateral and multilateral defense strategy, policies, programs, and relations between the Department of Defense and nine southern African countries.
His association with Africa started in 1996 with his assignment to the Multinational Force and Observers, in Sinai Egypt, where he commanded the Aviation Unit which provided aviation support to the 11-nation peacekeeping force. In 1999, Mr. Garrison was assigned to U.S. European Command as a Political/Military affairs officer responsible for all U.S. military security cooperation and contingency plans for the 11 southern most African nations. He was subsequently assigned as the Defense and Army Attaché to the Republic of Kenya from July 2002 through June 2005, and then assigned as the Defense and Army Attaché to the Republic of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, from June 2005 through June 2008. During his tour in South Africa, he was deployed to Sudan as the Defense Liaison Officer for several months to support the Embassy during the Abuja peace negotiation. In these positions, he was responsible for the management of all uniformed political-military relations with each host nation governments.
During his Army career, Mr. Garrison held several Army and Joint command and staff positions serving in Germany, Africa, the Middle East, and the United States. He was awarded numerous Department of Defense, U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force awards and decorations and earned the U.S. Army Master Aviator badge and has over 2,800 rotary- and fixed-wing flight hours.
Colonel Garrison holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona; a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; and a Master of Science degree in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, was an Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army Rotary Wing Aviator Qualification Course, and a Distinguished Graduate from the U.S. Army Armor Officers Basic Course.
Areas of Expertise
Political-military affairs for Southern and Eastern Africa, Aviation Security, Department of Defense and U.S. Embassy Country Team operations, Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance Program (ACOTA), U.S. Security Assistance programming
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Thomas A. Dempsey
Assistant Professor, Security Studies
Colonel Thomas Dempsey, US Army (retired) is the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) Chair for Security Studies. Professor Dempsey specializes in security sector reform, rule of law, post-conflict transitions and peace operations. He served as the Professor of Security Sector Reform with the U.S. Army Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from 2007 to 2009. Professor Dempsey joined PKSOI after returning from eight months in Monrovia, Liberia, where he directed the reconstitution and training of the Liberian Ministry of National Defense as part of the joint U.S.-Liberian Security Sector Reform Program.Colonel Dempsey served as Director of African Studies in the Department of National Security and Strategy at the U.S. Army War College from 1999 through his retirement in August of 2006. His 31-year military career as an Infantry Officer and African Foreign Area Officer included service as the Chief of Africa Branch at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Defense HUMINT Services, and as Defense Attache in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Professor Dempsey edited and was a contributing author to Civil Power in Irregular Conflict (2010), authored a monograph entitled Counterterrorism in African Failed States (2006), and has published articles in Brassey’s Defense Analysis.
Professor Dempsey has a B.A. in History from Wichita State University, an M.A. in African Area Studies from UCLA, and an M.M.A.S. in Theater Operations from the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Public Administration at Penn State Harrisburg.
Areas of Expertise
Security Sector Reform, Rule of Law, Post-conflict Transitions, Peace Operations
