Areas of Expertise: Security Cooperation; Counter-terrorism; Irregular & Hybrid Warfare
Dr. Bryce Loidolt
is a Senior Research Fellow at National Defense University's Institute for National Strategic Studies. Prior to joining NDU, he was a Defense Analyst at the RAND Corporation. Dr. Loidolt’s current research examines the relationship between security assistance and interstate competition and conflict. To this end, he has been detailed to provide research support to multiple operational commands and has conducted field research in Egypt, Afghanistan, Yemen, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. Beyond his time in the field, Dr. Loidolt has served on and led research teams executing studies on behalf of a variety of senior Department of Defense stakeholders, to include the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense.
Dr. Loidolt's work has been published or is forthcoming as RAND Corporation and NDU Press monographs, at War on the Rocks, West Point's CTC Sentinel, the Modern War Institute’s War Room, and in scholarly journals such as Security Studies, Texas National Security Review, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, and Survival. His current book project uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate the local sources of success and failure in train, advise, and equip efforts.
A southern California native, Dr. Loidolt received his B.A. in Middle East Studies from Middlebury College, his M.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the George Washington University.
Dr. Loidolt is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations and was awarded the Joint Civilian Service Achievement Award in recognition of his research.
Selected Publications
Monographs and Book Chapters
- Bryce Loidolt, “Doing Well by Doing Good? Strategic Competition and United Nations Peacekeeping,” National Defense University-Institute for National Strategic Studies Strategic Perspectives 36, September 2021.
- Bryce Loidolt et al., “Rogues, Disrupters, and Spoilers in an Era of Great Power Competition,” in Tom Lynch ed., Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition, (Washington, DC: NDU Press 2020).
- Bryce Loidolt et al., “Competing Visions and Actions by China, Russia, and the United States in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Arctic,” in Tom Lynch ed., Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition, (Washington, DC: NDU Press 2020).
- Eric Robinson, Kathleen Frier, Kim Cragin, Melissa Bradley, Daniel Egel, Bryce Loidolt, and Paul Streinberg, What Factors Cause Individuals to Reject Violent Extremism in Yemen? (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2017).
- Ben Connable, Jason Campbell, Bryce Loidolt, and Gail Fisher, Assessing Freedom of Movement for Counterinsurgency Campaigns, (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2012).
- Austin Long, Stephanie Pezard, Bryce Loidolt, and Todd Helmus, Locals Rule: Historical Lessons for Creating Local Defense Forces for Afghanistan and Beyond, (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2012).
- Barak A. Salmoni, Bryce Loidolt, and Madeleine Wells, Regime and Periphery in Northern Yemen: the Huthi Phenomenon, (Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2010).
Refereed Journal Articles
- Bryce Loidolt, “Lethal Targeting and Adaptation Failure in Terrorist Groups,” Security Studies (forthcoming).
- Bryce Loidolt, “How the al-Qaeda-Taliban Alliance Survived,” Survival (2022):
- Bryce Loidolt, “Were Drone Strikes Effective? Evaluating Lethal Targeting through Captured al-Qaeda Records,” Texas National Security Review 5. No. 2 (2022): 54-79.
- Bryce Loidolt, “Al-Qaeda’s Iran Dilemma: Evidence from the Abbottabad Records,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism (2020): 1-28.
- Bryce Loidolt and Quinn Mecham, “Parliamentary Opposition under Hybrid Regimes: Evidence from Egypt,” Legislative Studies Quarterly 41, no. 4 (2016): 997-1022.
- Brian A. Jackson and Bryce Loidolt. “Considering al-Qa‘ida's Innovation Doctrine: From Strategic Texts to ‘Innovation in Practice,’” Terrorism and Political Violence 25, no. 2 (2013): 284-310.
- Bryce Loidolt, “Managing the Global and Local: The Dual Agendas of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 34, no. 2 (2011): 102-123.
Commentary and Research Essays
- Bryce Loidolt, “Managed Risks, Managed Expectations: How Far Can Targeted Killing get the United States in Afghanistan?” War on the Rocks, May 18, 2021.
- Bryce Loidolt, “Reconsidering al-Qaeda-Iranian Cooperation,” War on the Rocks, February 17, 2021.
- Bryce Loidolt, “Iranian Resources and Shia Militant Cohesion: Insights from the Khazali Papers,” CTC Sentinel, West Point Combating Terrorism Center, January 2019.
- Bryce Loidolt and COL Ed Ballanco, “If We Want Security Force Assistance Missions to Succeed, Give Advisers Control of the Purse Strings,” Modern War Institute War Room, October 2018.