Col. Spencer Bakich is a professor of international studies and the Director of the National Security Program at VMI, and a Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. Specializing in strategic studies and American foreign policy, Col. Bakich teaches courses on U.S. national security policy, U.S.-China relations, and military strategy. 

Col. Bakich is the author of The Gulf War: George H. W. Bush and American Grand Strategy in the Post-Cold War Era (Kansas, 2024), Success and Failure in Limited War: Information and Strategy in the Korean, Vietnam, Persian Gulf, and Iraq Wars (Chicago, 2014), and is co-editor of Sources of Great Power Competition: Rising Powers, Grand Strategy, and System Dynamics (Routledge, 2025). Col. Bakich's commentary has been featured in The National Interest, USA Today, The Washington Post, and The Strategy Bridge.

Col. Bakich has participated in governmental and professional workshops and projects, the sponsors of which include the National Intelligence Council, United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, the Project on Civilian-Military Educational Cooperation, and the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum. As a Senior Fellow in Presidential Studies at the Miller Center, Col. Bakich has interviewed numerous senior policymakers, military officers, and Foreign Service officers who served in the George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama administrations. 

A recipient of the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) Outstanding Faculty Award and VMI’s Distinguished Teaching Award, Col. Bakich earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Politics at the University of Virginia, and his B.A. magna cum laude from James Madison University.

Professor
International Studies and Political Science

Mr. Scott Belliveau '83 is an Instructor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science. Teaching at VMI for more two decades, Mr. Belliveau specializes in American government, the Congress, and the Presidency. He is the author of numerous articles in such publications as the Journal of Military History, the Encyclopedia of the Cold War, and Naval History.  

He received a B.A. in History from Virginia Military Institute in 1983 and M.A. in International Affairs from The American University in 1990.

Col. Dennis Foster is Department Head and Professor of International Studies and Political Science at Virginia Military Institute. He teaches courses on international politics, American foreign policy, terrorism, domestic politics, and war, religion and war, and research design.

His research, which has appeared in such outlets as the British Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, Political Psychology, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Foreign Policy Analysis, focuses on the impact of domestic factors on international conflict propensity, leadership psychology and war, the determinants of strategy choice by insurgent (especially terrorist) groups, and conventional and nuclear deterrence.

Department Head
Jackson-Hope Distinguished Professor
International Studies and Political Science

Associate Professor
International Studies and Political Science

Professor
International Studies and Political Science

Professor
International Studies and Political Science

Curriculum Vitae

New Book:  Tradition and the Deliberative Turn (Albany:  SUNY Press, 2023)

Dr. Wesley B. O'Dell is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science. His research and teaching concentrate on the subject of Great Power rights and responsibilities and its application to military and commercial activity in outer space. He has previously held appointments at the George C. Marshall Foundation and on the faculties of Washington & Lee University and Southern Virginia University.

Dr. O'Dell holds a B.A. in Politics, History, and Classics from Washington & Lee University, an MPhil in Modern European History from the University of Cambridge, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Lexington with his wife, Natalie, and young children.

Lt. Col. Timothy J. A. Passmore, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science. Maj. Passmore specializes in international law and organizations, civil conflict management, and U.S. foreign policy. His current research addresses the role of UN peacekeeping in reducing civil war violence and promoting military reform and democratic stability.   

He received a Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Colorado Boulder, and an MLitt from the University of St. Andrews. He is originally from London, England. 

Website: http://tjapassmore.com

 

Col. Patrick Rhamey is a professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science and serves on the board of the TransResearch Consortium. 

He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Arizona.  His publications include work on the behaviors of major and regional powers, comparative regionalism, and the international politics of sport.  He is also the author of Power, Space, and Time: An Empirical Introduction to International Relations, which provides students with a brief introduction to hierarchical theories of international politics as well as frequently used data sources.

Professor
International Studies and Political Science

Maj. Megan Roosevelt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science. Her research focuses on the intersection of trade policy, special interest politics, and immigration.

She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has published research on economic determinants of hostility toward migrants and linguistic minorities, as well as on the role of corporate lobbying in setting trade policy in different domestic contexts. She also contributes to a research team affiliated with USAID’s Feed the Future program, analyzing food systems and their resilience to external shocks. Undergraduate course offerings include American Foreign Policy and International Political Economy.

Dr. Salih Yasun is an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science. His research focuses on the intersection of political behavior and institutional change.

Dr. Yasun received his MsC in Applied Statistics and PhD in Political Science from Indiana-University-Bloomington. He has conducted extensive fieldwork research in Tunisia and published his articles on local governance, development and voting behavior for journals such as Party Politics, Middle East Law and Governance, and Journal of the Middle East and Africa. He is fluent in Turkish and Arabic (fusha).  Undergraduate course offerings include Techniques of Computer Analysis and Politics of Middle East.

www.syasun.com