Voices on Peace and War
International Security Fellows Program (ISFP)
Building resilient democracies.
Captain Alden Partridge founded Norwich University in 1819 with a vision to create an educational institution distinctly built for the challenges facing a new democracy on a largely unsettled continent. He knew the circumstances of time and place required his new college to educate and develop American citizens who could guide the country through the opportunities of the decades and centuries to come.
His vision is succinctly captured in the University mission statement from 1843:
“To give our youth an education that shall be American in its character - to enable them to act as well as to think - to execute as well as conceive - to “tolerate all opinions when reason is left free to combat them” - to make moral, patriotic, efficient, and engaged citizens, and to qualify them for all the profound responsibilities resting upon a citizen of this free republic.”
The John and Mary Frances Patton Peace & War Center at Norwich University seeks to advance this vision and mission though the ISFP in collaboration with the Democratic Resilience Center at Helmut Schmidt Universitat.
Helmut Schmidt Universitat
Democratic Resilience Center
The Democratic Resilience Center (DRC) envisions a world where democratic societies are resilient; robust, credible and capable of identifying, deterring and withstanding challenges and threats.
International Security Fellows Program (ISFP)
The ISFP is a research-driven fellowship dedicated to addressing global challenges threatening democracies. Through collaborative, cross-cultural teams, fellows engage in cutting-edge research across topics such as defining democratic resilience, combating disinformation, and creating grand strategies to safeguard democratic values. Fellows will produce peer-reviewed publications, white papers, and actionable recommendations to enhance democratic resilience worldwide. This initiative also strengthens international collaboration and visibility for NU and HSU, paving the way for future academic and research opportunities. The program seeks to generate impactful research and innovative solutions to bolster democratic resilience while providing students with valuable cross-cultural experiences, research skills, and the opportunity to contribute to meaningful academic and policy discussions.
Meet the Program Coordinator
Presley McGarry, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice
Norwich University
Dr. McGarry is an Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Norwich University, currently in her second year. She teaches courses in professionalism in criminal justice, introductory and advanced research methods, senior seminar, and a Seerist certificate course. Dr. McGarry holds a PhD and Master's in Criminology and Criminal Justice from UMass Lowell, along with a Bachelor's in Psychology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Dr. McGarry’s research focuses on the biosocial factors underlying antisocial and deviant behavior. Specifically, she explores how psychological and physiological processes—such as autonomic nervous system function—interact to shape emotional regulation, susceptibility to cognitive biases, and stress responses, particularly in the context of misinformation, disinformation, and online radicalization. By examining the mind-body connection through tools like EEG and ECG, Dr. McGarry investigates how these physiological processes might contribute to an individual’s response to social stimuli and risk-taking behaviors. Her work also involves the use of an AI-based Natural Language Processing model to analyze the rhetoric and influence of mis/disinformation online. In addition, Dr. McGarry leads a joint initiative on democratic resilience with Helmuth Schmidt University through Norwich’s Peace and War Center, where she develops research and think pieces on sustaining democratic systems amidst challenges such as misinformation and political polarization.
In her interdisciplinary work, Dr. McGarry has managed several federally funded research projects from agencies like the DOD, ARI, and AFOSR, contributing to the development of new methodologies for understanding the intersections of psychology, physiology, and illicit behavior. She has rebranded and led a university lab focused on these topics and has published over a dozen articles on issues such as misinformation, radicalism, and military decision-making. Outside of work, Dr. McGarry is a devoted servant to Wednesday, her Siamese cat, and Asparagus, her leopard gecko.
Voices on Peace & War
Voices on Peace and War
Russia’s Authoritarian Peacebuilding in Mali: Stability as a Mirage
Mali exemplifies how overlapping crises—state fragility, jihadist insurgency, and great-power competition—have created openings for external actors, particularly Russia, whose security support prioritizes regime survival and resource extraction rather than stability or reform. Disillusionment with Western interventions, especially France and the UN, led Mali’s junta to embrace Russia’s “security without conditions” model, which appeals to authoritarian leaders but has worsened violence, exploited gold resources, and deepened instability. Ultimately, Mali’s case highlights a broader shift toward authoritarian peacebuilding in Africa, where sovereignty is used to shield regimes from accountability, raising concerns that future peace operations may prioritize geopolitical influence over civilian protection and sustainable conflict resolution.
Voices on Peace and War