Air War College Professors, Regional Reports

The grand finale each year is a report from professors at the Air War College on visits to different areas of the world as part of the Regional and Cultural Studies portion of the curriculum. Three professors will report on their findings from their travel in March and entertain your questions. 

Mr. Bruce Kleiner, AU’s State Department Representative (will discuss Argentina and Chile, and has served in Cuba).

Dr. Dawn Murphy (will discuss China and Korea)

Dr. Dave Sorenson (will discuss Israel and the UAE)

Biographical notes

Mr. Bruce P. Kleiner - Department of International Security Studies

Mr. Bruce Kleiner is the State Department Senior Advisor to the Air War College. An active-duty career member of the Senior Foreign Service, he teaches National Security Decision Making, Global Security, and participates in a range of courses across the Air University. Mr. Kleiner was most recently posted in Cuba from the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Havana in 2015 to summer 2017, following a diplomatic assignment in Romania from 2012-2015. Other U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulate assignments abroad include Japan, Mexico, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru and Honduras.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1993, Mr. Kleiner worked in television news as an on-air reporter, cameraman and editor at a number of NBC affiliates in the U.S., and managed CNN's domestic news-gathering efforts as National Assignment Editor in Atlanta. He is an honors graduate of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and holds an MA from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Dr. Dawn Murphy - Department of International Security Studies

Dr. Dawn Murphy, Assistant Professor of International Security Studies, joined the Air War College faculty in 2015. She specializes in Chinese foreign policy and domestic politics, international relations, and comparative politics. Her current research analyzes China’s interests, identity and behavior as a rising global power towards the existing international order. Specifically, she examines China’s relations with the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa and is writing a book titled "Rising Revisionist? China’s Evolving Relations with the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa in the post-Cold War Era." The book project is based on field work conducted as a Visiting Scholar with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, China; a Visiting Research Fellow with the American University in Cairo, Egypt; and a Visiting Researcher at Stellenbosch University’s Centre for Chinese Studies in South Africa.

Murphy holds a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and Ph.D. in Political Science from George Washington University. Her previous academic appointments include Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program at Princeton University and Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Dr. David S. Sorenson - Department of International Security Studies

Dr. David S. Sorenson is Professor of International Security Studies. Dr. Sorenson received his Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and his BA and MA from California State University at Long Beach. He previously served on the faculties of the University of Colorado at Denver, Denison University, and the Mershon Center at Ohio State University.

He has published Syria in Ruins: The Dynamics of the Syrian Civil War (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger Publishers, 2016; Lebanon: Global Security Watch. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers (2010), Interpreting the Modern Middle East, (edited), (Westview Press, 2010), The Process and Politics of Defense Acquisition: A Reference Book (Praeger Publishers, 2008), An Introduction to the Modern Middle East (Westview Press, 2nd Edition 2013), Military Base Closure: A Reference Book (Praeger Publishers, 2007), Shutting Down the Cold War: The Politics of Military Base Closure (St. Martin's Press, 1998), and The Politics of Strategic Aircraft Modernization, (Praeger, 1995).

He has also co-edited The Politics of International Aircraft Collaboration (London: Ashgate Publishers, 2000), and The Politics of Peacekeeping (Frank Cass Publishers, 2005), and numerous articles and book chapters on Middle East politics, defense budget politics, and national security affairs. Professor Sorenson was AWC Associate Dean for Academic Programs (2000-2003).