T.X. Hammes

Areas of Expertise: Future Conflict; Changing Character of War; Military Strategy; Operational Concepts; Insurgency/Irregular Warfare

Dr. Thomas X. Hammes joined INSS in June 2009. His areas of expertise include future conflict, the changing character of war, military strategy, operational concepts, and insurgency. Dr. Hammes earned a Bachelor of Science from the Naval Academy in 1975 and holds a Masters of Historical Research and a Doctorate in Modern History from Oxford University. He is a Distinguished Graduate from the Canadian National Defence College. He has published three books: Deglobalization and International Security; The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21^st Century; and The 1^st Provisional Marine Brigade, the Corps’ Ethos, and the Korean War. He has also published over 160 articles.  His publications have been used widely in staff and defense college curricula in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Singapore.  Dr. Hammes has lectured extensively at leading academic and military institutions in the United States and abroad. Prior to his retirement from active duty, Dr. Hammes served 30 years in the Marine Corps to include command of an intelligence battalion, an infantry battalion and the Chemical Biological Response Force. He participated in military operations in Somalia and Iraq and trained insurgents in various locations.

Selected Publications:     

Articles  

• Game-changers: Implications of the Russo-Ukraine war for the future of ground warfare, (Washington, DC: Atlantic Council, April  2023).
• An Affordable Defense of Asia, (Washington, DC: Atlantic Council, June 2020).
• Deglobalization and International Security, (Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2019).
• The Melian’s Revenge: How Emerging Tech Can Fortify NATO’s Flank, (Washington, DC: Atlantic Council, June 2019).
• American is Well Within Range of a Big Surprise, So Why Can’t It See It?, (War on the Rocks, March 12, 2018).
• We Need to Start Thinking Differently About Maritime Air Power – And We Can, (Task & Purpose, September 19, 2018).
• Technology Converges, Power Diffuses: The Evolution of Small, Smart, and Cheap Weapons, (Washington, DC: CATO Institute, January 27, 2016).

Book Chapters

• “The Rising Dominance of the Defense?” in Beyond Ukraine: Debating the Future of War, ed. by Tim Sweijs and Jefferey M. Michaels, Oxford University Press, 2024.