Education
- Ph.D., Government and Foreign Affairs, University of Virginia
- M.A., Political Science, Villanova University
- B.A., Religion, Swarthmore College
Subject Matter Expertise
- National Security Strategy in Great Power Competition
- Special Operations in Irregular Warfare
- Transregional Counter PRC activities
- Russian/Eastern European Politics
Dr. Spencer B. Meredith III serves as a Professor of National Security Strategy at the National Defense University (NDU) / College of International Security Affairs (CISA) / Joint Special Operations Master of Arts (JSOMA) program (2013-present). With more than two decades of research and teaching, his principal areas of expertise are 1) countering China and Russia as strategic adversaries using Special Operations in Irregular Warfare, specifically through cost imposition and crisis response; and 2) comparative politics across multiple Geographic Combatant Command areas of responsibility.
He is a Subject Matter Expert for several Geographic Combatant Command, Intelligence Community, and Joint Special Operations efforts, including wargame development in support of Joint Staff priorities.
Dr. Meredith works closely with the Special Operations community to increase Joint Force effectiveness, educating Joint Special Operations field grade and senior enlisted students, and assisting US Army Special Operations and Joint Special Operations Commands with strategic analysis. He has briefed at the National Security Council and presented at multiple USG and NATO senior leader events. He co-led several Joint Staff Strategic Multilayer Assessments, including the “SOF Paradigm in Great Power Competition” project.
With a doctorate in Government and Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia, as well as a Fulbright Scholarship to the Republic of Georgia, Dr. Meredith has a broad record of scholarship. His first book, Nuclear Energy Safety and International Cooperation: Closing the World’s Most Dangerous Reactors (2014) resulted from work with key US Interagency and partner nations in Eastern Europe. His recent articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals including Special Operations Journal, Communist Studies and Transition Politics, Peace and Conflict Studies, Central European Political Science Review; as well as in professional publications including Joint Forces Quarterly (forthcoming 2025), Modern War Institute, Irregular Warfare Initiative, Special Warfare, Small Wars Journal, Strategy Bridge, Inter-Agency Journal, and Foreign Policy Journal.