Peter J. Munson is a Marine officer, author, and Middle East specialist.  He is the author of War, Welfare, and Democracy: Rethinking America's Quest for the End of History (Potomac, 2013) and Iraq in Transition: The Legacy of Dictatorship and the Prospects for Democracy (Potomac, 2009) and .  A frequent contributor to multiple journals and blogs, including his own, he is also the Editor of the Small Wars Journal.  You can follow his Twitter feed @peterjmunson and find his LinkedIn profile here.  He is leaving the Marine Corps in summer 2013 and hopes to translate his experience in leading high-performance teams and creating strategic solutions to complex international problems into the business world. All views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Marine Corps or Department of Defense.