Paula Holmes-Eber Editor & Author

Kjetil Enstad initiated and organized the conference in Oslo on which this anthology builds. After finishing his Ph.D. in literature, he has been associate professor in different positions in the Norwegian Military Academy and the Norwegian Defence University College (NDUC). He has been Head of Department in the department of Military Theory, International Relations and Communication, and he has had a brief period as Assistant Dean at the NDUC. He currently teaches cultural awareness and scientific method, and his latest publication is “Teaching professional ethos” in the Journal of Military Ethics, on the implication of Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language for the notion of a professional ethos in the military.

From 2006-2014, Paula Holmes-Eber taught thousands of senior military and governmental leaders about the cultural aspects of conflict and military planning as Professor of Operational Culture at Marine Corps University. During this period, she also built culture policy and training programs and studied their effectiveness at the US Marine Corps Center for Advanced Operational Culture (CAOCL). She is the author of five books and numerous scholarly publications on culture and conflict including:  Culture in Conflict: Irregular Warfare, Culture Policy and the Marine Corps (Stanford University Press, 2014), and the three part handbook series: Operational Culture for the Warfighter—forward by General James Mattis, current US Secretary of Defense (MCU Press, 2009, 2011, 2014).  Dr. Holmes-Eber holds a PhD in anthropology from Northwestern University and a BA in psychology and sociology from Dartmouth College. She is currently Affiliate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington.