Fitchburg State College Faculty

Joshua Spero

Social Science

Website: www.fsc.edu/redi

Courses Taught:

• Global Issues (IDIS 1800)
• Europe Today (POLS 2110; also HIST 2110)
• Contemporary International Relations (POLS 2200)
• International Organizations [Model United Nations] (POLS 2700)
• Conduct of American Foreign Policy (POLS 3400)
• International Terrorism (POLS 3510; also CJ 3510)
• Institute for Understanding Government Decision Making (POLS 4360; also POLS 7001)
• Adult Learning in Fitchburg Area workshop/seminar, Understanding the Global War on Terrorism, Middle East: Challenges and Implications; U.S. Foreign Policy; European Politics; U.S. Domestic and Foreign Policy after the First Year of the Obama Administration (2004-Present)

Education:

• Ph.D., Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (2000)
• M.A., University of Michigan (1987)
• B.A., Brandeis University (1985)

Research Interests:

International politics
Comparative foreign policy
(Europe/Eurasia, post-Communist transitions; transitioning nations globally);

US foreign policy
International security
Economic institutions
National security decision-making and emergency planning
Political risk analysis & Leadership Simulation Role-Playing
Politico-military assessments
Investment and stability game planning;

Globalization and Interdependence
Public policy (planning, decisionmaking & administration)
Transnational development (poverty, health & environmental crises, population/food problems, race, gender, religious persecution)
Counter-terrorism
Cooperative security
Preventive diplomacy (conflict prevention)
Ethno-national conflict/resolution
Civil-military relations

Languages: Russian (fluent), Leningrad State University Certificate, 1985; Polish (advanced)

Current Projects:

FITCHBURG STATE COLLEGE (FSC) SERVICE:
-- Associate Professor of Political Science
-- International Studies Minor Coordinator
-- Faculty Director, Regional Economic Development Institute (REDI) at FSC

--Faculty Advisor, Student Government Association (SGA) (2007-2009, advised on range of issues affecting Fitchburg State College, including public higher education funding, Boston’s State House trips, development and implementation of the SGA Mission, Vision, and Goals for its new Strategic Plan)
--Chair, 2nd Stage of Academic Planning Committee (2nd Stage, 2007-2008)
--Chair, International Advisory Committee (2004-2008)
Coordinator, International Studies Keynote Speaker Series, including International Month Planning Group (2006-Present)
--Executive Committee of the FSC MA State College Association Chapter (Member, 2006-2007; Secretary, 2007-2009)
--Strategic Planning Committee (Academic Planning, 2007)
--Faculty Advisor, Model UN Club, Political Science Club (2004-2009, travel/competition: Harvard, Yale, Northeastern, and McGill Universities)
--Social Science Curriculum Committee (2005-2009, Chair, 2007-08)
--Sustainability Advisory Committee (Presidential selection, 2008-2009)
--Committee to establish: Institute for Regional Development and Policy Analysis (President’s selection, 2009)
--Technology Advisory Committee (2004-2005)
--Presidential Task Force on Technology (2004-2005)
--Lap Top Pilot Program Committee (2004-2005)

-- Fitchburg State College Political Science advising, supervising numerous Writing Associates for my courses, and participation as departmental representative in numerous orientation and college advising events (includes High School Junior Achievement advising/shadow program)

MAJOR PUBLICATION:
* Book: Bridging the European Divide: Middle Power Politics and Regional Security Dilemmas. (Rowman & Littlefield -- Reviews of Spero book: Walter Clemens, Slavic Review, spring 2006; Michael Roskin, Perspectives on Politics, December 2005)
--See web site (15% off Rowman & Littlefield web site purchase):
http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com/Catalog/Singlebook.shtml?command=search&db=^DB\Catalog.db&eqSKUdatarq=0742535533

MAJOR FITCHBURG STATE COLLEGE PROJECT:
Co-founded the first Model United Nations group at the college with financial support from the President and the Fitchburg College Foundation (2004-Present). Co-Led student teams to competitions at Harvard, Yale, Northeastern, and McGill Universities. FSC teams continually compete as one of the few public colleges with teams from across the U.S. and from countries with representative college teams from among Argentina Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Great Britain, India, Italy, Iraq, Japan and Venezuela. (2004-2009)

Representative Publications:

UPCOMING PUBLICATIONS & ONGOING RESEARCH
* Paper/Chapter: "Russia Military Strategy toward Central-East Europe" forthcoming book on The Russian Military: Today and Tomorrow (US Army War College & Hudson Institute)
* Paper/Article: "Simulating Governmental Decision-Making Locally, Regionally, and Globally," Co-Authored with Dr. Paul Weizer, Fitchburg State College, Mid-West Political Science Association (Chicago, April 2008)

PUBLICATIONS
(numerous classified publications from 1994-2000 for the Joint Chiefs of Staff)

* "Great Power Security Dilemmas for Pivotal Middle Power Bridging," Contemporary Security Policy, Vol. 30, No. 1 (April 2009) -- (Refereed) [http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a910204561~db=all~order=page?bios=true#b910204561]

* Book Review in Slavic Review (summer 2008): New Europe: The Impact of the First Decade, Vols 1-2. Edited by Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone and Piotr Dutkiewicz

* Book Review in Slavic Review (Fall 2006): Soft or Hard Borders? Managing the Divide in an Enlarged Europe. Ed. Joan DeBardeleben

* Book Review in Slavic Review (Summer 2005): Frank Schimmelgennig, The EU, NATO, and the Integration of Europe: Rules and Rhetoric

* BOOK: Bridging the European Divide: Middle Power Politics and Regional Security Dilemmas. (Rowman & Littlefield), 2004 (Reviews of Spero book: Walter Clemens, Slavic Review, spring 2006; Michael Roskin, Perspectives on Politics, December 2005)

* Book Review in Journal of Canadian-American Slavic Studies (2004): Janine Wedel, Collision & Collusion: The Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe (New York: Palgrave, 2001).

* "Beyond Old and New Europe," Current History (March 2004).

* "The Impact on NATO of the Emerging Role of East Europe and the NIS in Iraq," Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2004), http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1422&fuseaction=topics.publications&doc_id=54118&group_id=7427

"Paths to Peace for NATOs Partnerships in Eurasia," in J. Sperling, S. Kay, and S.V. Papacosma, eds., Limiting Institutions: The Challenge of Eurasian Security Governance (2003).

"Looking Beyond NATO and EU Enlargement: Northeastern Europe and Russian Security Dynamics," Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2003). [See also: http://wwics.si.edu/index.cfm?topic_id=1422&fuseaction=topics.publications&doc_id=28311&group_id=7430]

"Military Aspects of NATO Enlargement," in T. Valasek & T. Hitchens, eds., "Growing Pains: The Debate on the Next Round of NATO Enlargement (Washington: Center for Defense Information, 2002).

"The Polish-Ukrainian Inter-State Model for Cooperation and Integration: Regional Relations in a Theoretical Context" in J.P. Moroney and T. Kuzio, eds., Ukraine's Foreign and Security policy: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood/Praeger, 2002).

"The International Coalition against Terrorism," Insight Magazine (December 3, 2001), pp. 41-43.

"Completing the Transatlantic Bargain: The United States and European Security," (With S. Kay and C. Barry) Current History, Vol. 100, No. 644 (March 2001), pp. 129-136.

"Poland's Perennial Crossroads: Between East and West?" in Andrzej Dumala and Ziemowit Pietras, eds., The Future of East-Central Europe (Lublin, Poland: Curie University Press, 1996), pp. 273-292.

"Central European Security," in J. Philip Rogers, ed., The Future of European Security: The Pursuit of Peace in an Era of Revolutionary Change (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993), pp. 42-57.

"Deja Vu All over Again? Poland's Attempt to Avoid Entrapment between Two Belligerents," in Jacob Kipp ed., Central European Security Concerns: Bridge, Buffer or Barrier? (London: Frank Cass, 1993), pp. 92-117. (Appeared also as a article in European Security, special issue)

"The Budapest-Prague-Warsaw Triangle: Central European Security After Visegrad," European Security, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring 1992), pp. 58-83. (Refereed)

"Military Reform & the Struggle to Redefine Security in the Post-USSR," (with P. Petersen) in Blank and Kipp, eds., The Soviet Military and the Future (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1992), pp. 9-22.

"Central European Security," Problems of Communism (Nov-Dec 1991), pp. 141-151. (Refereed)

"The Soviet Military View in Southeastern Europe," (w/P. Petersen) in Paul S. Shoup, ed., Problems of Balkan Security: Southeast Europe in the 1990s (Washington: Wilson Center, 1990), pp. 207-234.

Op-Ed Columns (Newspapers):
* "America's Precarious Transatlantic Bridge," (with S. Kay), Defense News (18 August 2003 2001), p. 51.
* "A Way Out on Iraq," (with S. Kay), Cleveland Plain Dealer (7 February 2003), p. B9.
* "The High Cost of War Against Iraq," (with S. Kay), Boston Sunday Globe (3 November 2002), p. D12
* "A Year Later, the Threat of Terrorism Remains," Boston Sunday Globe (8 September 2002), p. F8
* "More Money Won't Buy Security" (with S. Kay), Cleveland Plain Dealer (8 February 2002), p. B9.
* "Keep NATO Relevant for the 21st Century," (with S. Kay), Defense News (17-23 Dec. 2001), p. 27.
* "From the Pentagon to Merrimack College," Connections {Invited college column}, (29 Oct. 2001), p. 3.
* "Fighting a War Against Terrorism Takes a Commitment to Public Service," {"My Turn" Column by invitation}, The Lawrence-Andover Eagle-Tribune (24 September 2001), p. 9.

Professional Affiliations:

* Council on Foreign Relations (since 2001; Member, Academic Outreach Advisory Group since 2003)
* Atlantic Council of the United States (Academic Associate since 2002)
* American Political Science Association (since 1999)
* International Studies Association (since 1999)
* International Institute for Strategic Studies (since 1996)
* Women In International Security (since 1995)
* The Polish Institute for the Arts and Sciences (since 1994)
* American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (since 1988)
* International Affairs Committee, Star Island, NH (since 2003, Chair, 2006)
___________

Dr. Joshua B. Spero, Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at Fitchburg State College (Fitchburg, Mass.), was also Assistant Professor of Political Science at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. (2000-2002) and Visiting Assistant Professor of Government at Dartmouth College (2000-2001).

Dr. Spero also consults for various international affairs organizations and worked as a federal career civil servant for nearly 15 years until 2000: from 1994-2000, as the senior civilian Strategic Planner on the Joint Chiefs of Staff (European and NATO Division, J-5 Directorate for Strategic Plans and Policy); from 1990-1994, as Visiting Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies (National Defense University,); and 1988-1990, as Deputy Assistant for Europe and the USSR (Office of the Secretary of Defense). From 1988-1994, he also served as the Washington Liaison Officer to the Ft. Leavenworth, KS Foreign Military Studies Office.

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2009 Fitchburg State College Butler Grant Award Recipient given to Mr. Eric Gregoire, student administrative support for the Regional Economic Development Institute (REDI) at FSC
2008-2009 Fitchburg State College Advisor of the Year
2008 Online Teaching Stipend (Develop FSC Global Issues Summer/AY Course)
2007-2008 Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation Award
2003 Knight Cross of the Order of Merit (President, Republic of Poland)
2003 Who's Who in America (Marquis)
2000-2001 Dartmouth College Post Doctoral Research Fellowship
1999-2000 Johns Hopkins SAIS Doctoral Fellowship (also 1991-1993)
1997-1998 National Public Service Award nomination, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

CONFERENCE/FORUM PANELS:
Travel to: Belgium (NATO & SHAPE Headquarters), Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, France, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, and throughout the U.S.:
* Arranged Council on Foreign Relations Teleconferences for FSC Students and Faculty that focused the Middle East, Terrorism, Nuclear Strategy, Central Asian Revolutions, and Transatlantic Relations, as well as FSC student trip to Washington, DC to meet with government officials and international journalists.

** Fitchburg State College Speakers Series: "Getting `REDI’ at Fitchburg State and for North Central Massachusetts” (November 2009)
** Keynote Speaker: “National and International Leadership Through Service” Ohio Wesleyan University’s Sagan National Colloquium on "Renewing America for a Global Century: From Theory to Practice" (October 2009, http://snc.owu.edu/)
** Round Table Panelist: “Russian Military Strategy Toward Central-East Europe” (Washington, DC August 2009, U.S. Army War College and the Hudson Institute – Recorded by C-SPAN, 8/24/09 -- http://www.cspan.org/Watch/Media/2009/08/24/HP/A/2244/Hudson+Institute+Conference+on+the+Russian+Army.aspx
** FSC Leadership Conference Presenter: "Simulation Gaming for Career Leadership" (April 2009)
** Round Table Panelist: “Terrorist Groups and their Strategic contexts” American Political Science Association Annual Convention (Boston, August 2008)
** Round Table Panelist: “Roundtable on America, Europe, and the World: Is NATO Dead or Alive?” Council on Foreign Relations (Washington, DC, May 2008)
** Panel Presentation, Mid-West Political Science Association “Simulating Governmental Decision-Making Locally, Regionally, and Globally,” Co-presented with co-author Dr. Paul Weizer, Fitchburg State College (Chicago, April 2008)
** Panel Presentation, "Distance Learning via Blackboard," FSC Center for Teaching and Learning (July 2007)
** Panel Presentation "Campus Forum on Civic Engagement," Sponsored by FSC President, Student Government Association President, and Faculty Union President (April 2007)
** New England Political Science Association Round Table Panelist: "Ivan Arreguin Toft’s How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict" (April 2007)
** FSC Faculty Presentation, "Putting Student Groups into Virtual Motion," FSC Center for Teaching and Learning (March 2007)
** FSC Faculty Center Presentation, “Why Middle Powers Matter for Great Power Security Dilemmas: Poland and South Korea as Regional Geopolitical Pivots” (March 2007)
** Panel Presentation, “Do Middle Powers Matter for Great Power Security Dilemmas?” Northeastern Political Science Association (NPSA) and International Studies Association (ISA) Northeast (Nov 2006)
** Panel Discussant, “The US Role Globally and Constitutional Impact Locally,” FSC (September 2006)
** Carlton University/Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ottawa, Canada, June 2006: “The Transatlantic Security Triangle: Where Does Canada Fit?
** Panelist, You Say You Want A Revolution...Political Change in the Former Soviet Bloc, April 2005
** Panel Chair/Discussant: Change and Continuity in Russia, Northeast Political Science Association/International Studies Association to be held November 2004
** Suffolk University Law School and Center for Global Solutions, April 2004: An Effective NATO-European Relationship in a Post-9/11 World?
** Panel Presentation, Iraq: One Year Later, Fitchburg College, March 2004
** "East Europe's Emerging Role in the Middle East," Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and U.S. Department of State, Washington, November 2003
** Panel Chair/Discussant, Violence and the State: Militias, Militaries, and Terrorists, Northeastern Political Science Association (NEPSA) and International Studies Association Northeast (11/2003)
** Panel Presentation, "Pacifism and Politics: Views on War With Iraq," Merrimack College (2/2003)
** Panel Chair/Discussant, "Political Violence: From 9/11 on?" (NEPSA) November 2002.
** Panel Presentation, "The Military Cost of War against Iraq," Fitchburg College, October 2002
** Panel Presentation, "The Implications for War against Iraq," Merrimack College, October 2002
** "Looking Beyond NATO and EU Enlargement: Northeastern Europe and Russian Security Dynamics," Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, December 2002
** "Enlarging the Euro-Atlantic Space: Problems and Prospects for Northeastern and Southeastern Europe" (Stanley Foundation/Woodrow Wilson Int'l Center for Scholars), Hungary, Sept. 2002
** Panel Presentation, "Blood, Sweat, Tears: A Time for Remembrance," Merrimack College, (9/02)
** "Transatlantic Security in the 21st Century: Continuity or New Directions?" European Union Center, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology, April 2002
** "From the Pentagon to Merrimack College," Senior Center, Andover, Massachusetts, April 2002
** Panel chair and Panel Presentation, Chair "International Relations Theory and the Future of Security in Northeast Asia" and participant, "Enhancing Great Powers: Medium-Size State Impact on Regional Security Cooperation," ISA Convention. March 2002
** Panel Presentation, "Dealing with Tragedy: The Pentagon and New York," Special Merrimack College Political Science Forum Discussion. September 2001
** "Paths to Peace for NATOs Partnerships in Eurasia." Kent State University, September, 2001
** "Bridging Leadership and Cooperation for Transatlantic Security," Star Island (NH) International Affairs Conference, July 2001
** "Learning Lessons from the Post-Cold War Era: How Much Do Medium-Size States Matter for Regional Security Cooperation?" Naval War College, June 2001
** Panel Presentation, "Institutional Change and Identity in Foreign Policy Priorities: Models for European Regional Security Cooperation and Integration," ISA Convention. February 2001
** "The Polish-Ukrainian Inter-State Model for Cooperation and Integration: Regional Relations in a Theoretical Context," Woodrow Wilson Center for Young International Scholars, August 2000
** Panel chair and Organizer, International Studies Association, International Security Studies Section, "Promoting Regional Stability? NATO in the Post-Kosovo Era." November 1999
** "The Vision for Eurasian Security and Partnership in the Newly Independent States," Freedom House Visiting Fellows, May 1998
** "Future Strategy for NATO Enlargement, Interoperability, and Enhanced Partnership For Peace," Joint Chiefs of Staff representative, U.S. NSC-State Department-Pentagon Bilateral Working Group delegation to Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and NATO, 1995, 1997
** "The US Role in Changing NATO," Women In International Security, October 1996
** "The Implications for the USSR's Collapse," World Affairs Council, April 1993

REVIEWER/EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER
Oxford University Press, Contemporary Security Policy, Problems of Post-Communism, European Security, East European Politics and Societies, Manfred Worner Euro-Atlantic Association Romania


AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2009 Fitchburg State College Butler Grant Award Recipient given to Mr. Eric Gregoire, student administrative support for the Regional Economic Development Institute (REDI) at FSC
2008-2009 Fitchburg State College Advisor of the Year
2008 Online Teaching Stipend (Develop FSC Global Issues Summer/AY Course)
2007-2008 Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation Award; Online Teaching Grant
2003 Knight Cross of the Order of Merit (President, Republic of Poland)
2003 Who's Who in America (Marquis)
2000-2001 Dartmouth College Post Doctoral Research Fellowship
1999-2000 Johns Hopkins SAIS Doctoral Fellowship (also 1991-1993)
1997-1998 National Public Service Award nomination, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

Senior Seminar & General Advising/Committee:
--Fall 2008 Bachelor's Degree Senior Seminar Paper on “Revolutions in the Modern Era” (Ian James)
--Spring 2007 Bachelor's Degree Senior Seminar Paper on "International Communication & Political Stability
In the Twenty-first Century: Americanization and Two Case Studies from 1996-2004" (Michael Miner)
--Spring 2007 Bachelor's Degree Senior Seminar Paper on "Protecting the King: The Role of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt’s 2005 Election" (Jessica Guiney)
--Fall-Winter 2005-2006 Bachelor’s Degree Senior Seminar Paper on “The Iraq War and the Media, 2002-2004” (Jason Cole)
--Spring-Summer 2004 Master’s Degree Thesis on “The Usefulness of Brainstorming in Innovative Group Problem Solving” (Timothy M. Card)
--Spring 2004 Bachelor’s Degree Senior Seminar Paper on “Spinning Webs and Building Roads” [Middle East peace process and its challenges] (Matthew R. Germain)

MEDIA INTERVIEWS AND ONLINE ARTICLES:
New York Times (including, source on February-March 2002 article series: training of terrorist networks and their global impact); Washington Post; Washington Post.Com; London Sunday Times; Boston Globe, Atlanta Journal & Constitution; San Francisco Chronicle; CNBC News (TV); ABC News.Com; Cleveland Plain Dealer; Dallas Morning News; Orlando Sentinel; U.S. News & World Report; USA Today; CFRA News Talk Radio (Canada); Liberation (France); O Globo (Brazil); Politiken (Denmark); Insight Magazine; Homeland Defense Journal; Nickelodeon (TV); Reuters; AP; Defense News; Stars and Stripes; Columbia Missourian; San Diego Union Tribune; Worcester Telegram; Lawrence-Andover Eagle-Tribune; Lowell Sun; Savannah Morning News; Foster's Sunday Citizen; Acton Beacon; Neponset News, Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise, Fitchburg Point, Merrimack College Beacon, The Open Mic with Randy Feldman