Dr. Alan Greeley Misenheimer

Dr. Misenheimer retired in late 2019 after a 35-year Foreign Service career. His State Department assignments focused primarily on the Near East and North Africa, including long- or short-term work in every country in the region except Iran and Lebanon.  

His involvement in both conflict and peacemaking efforts (including in Egypt/Israel, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan) sparked his deep interest in the origins of war and the wellsprings of national security decision-making. Historical and philosophical research initiated at the National War College (where he taught for two years after Iraq), and later pursued through a fellowship at the Institute for the Study of War, eventually led to advanced academic study.  

After retirement Dr. Misenheimer completed his dissertation and received his doctorate from Georgetown University. Misenheimer then spent much of the COVID-19 lockdown writing a book on the intractable tangle of peace, justice and war in American history and our current thinking about national security. His book – The Ends of Justice: Seeking Perpetual Peace in a Time of Endless War – will be published by Wipf and Stock in spring 2023.   

Dr. Misenheimer holds a BA (classics, political science) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; a MS (international economics) from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service; a graduate certificate in Contemporary Arab Studies from Georgetown; and a graduate certificate in National Security Studies from the National War College. 

He and his wife will soon celebrate their 36th anniversary. They have two adult children, one a journalist and one a U.S. Navy officer.