Congratulations, Dr. John Sullivan! We are so proud of you being invited to be a Senior Fellow at the Urban Warfare Institute!

From the Urban Warfare Institute:

Dr. John Sullivan, was a career  police officer. He is an honorably  retired lieutenant with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, specializing in emergency operations, transit policing, counterterrorism, and intelligence.

He is currently an Instructor in the Safe Communities Institute (SCI) at the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California. He is also a Senior El Centro Fellow at Small Wars Journal, Research Fellow at the Future Security Initiative (FSI), Arizona State University & New America, Contributing Editor at Homeland Security Today, a member of the Urban Violence Research Network(UVRN), and the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), Network of Experts.

Sullivan received a lifetime achievement award from the National Fusion Center Association in November 2018 for his  contributions to the national network of intelligence fusion centers.

He completed the CREATE Executive Program in Counter-Terrorism at the University of Southern California and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the College of William and Mary, a Master of Arts in Urban Affairs and Policy Analysis from the New School for Social Research, and a PhD from the Open University of Catalonia.

His current research focus is terrorism, transnational gangs and organized crime, conflict disaster, intelligence studies, post-conflict policing, sovereignty, and urban operations.

“The Urban Warfare Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to advancing the study of urban environments, urban operations, and urban warfare. Our research spans the entire conflict spectrum and provides valuable insights to a diverse range of stakeholders.

Throughout history, wars have been waged in urban areas and this trend seems likely to continue given the world is becoming increasingly more urban. Recent wars or battles in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine, and Gaza have illustrated this. Yet militaries around the world are repeatedly unprepared for urban operations despite increasingly being pulled into them for a wide span of operations from humanitarian relief to combat.

As urban areas become an increasing site of political instability, natural disasters, and conflict, a robust public understanding of the complexity of urban operations and urban warfare is essential to preparing for the future. Our activities focus on conducting research, educational activities, and advising.”

Meet the Urban Warfare Institute team here.