David Malet Associate Professor Justice, Law & Criminology
- Degrees
- PhD, Political Science, George Washington University
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MA, National Security Studies, Georgetown University
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BA, Political Science and International Relations, Boston University
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BS, Education, Boston University - Bio
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David Malet teaches Justice, Law and Criminology at the School of Public Affairs at American University. Previously he served as director of the Security Policy Studies Program at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs. He also taught at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and at Colorado State University-Pueblo, where he was director of the Center for the Study of Homeland Security and the University Honors Program. From 2000-2003, he served as research assistant on national security issues to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.
Professor Malet, who has been researching foreign fighters since 2005, is the author of Foreign Fighters: Transnational Identity in Civil Conflicts (Oxford University Press, 2013 1st edition, 2017 2nd edition) and co-editor of Transnational Actors in War and Peace: Militants, Activists, and Corporations in World Politics (Georgetown University Press, 2017). He regularly consults on foreign fighter policy challenges for organizations including the United Nations, the U.S. Department of State, the UAE Ministry of Youth, Culture and Education, and Australian law enforcement agencies. He was recently a part of a Minerva Initiative-funded study on radicalization among religious converts.
His second manuscript, Biotechnology and International Security (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016), examines the militarization of human enhancement and other new forms of asymmetric warfare. His interest in military applications of biotech stems from his experience working in a congressional office targeted during the 2001 anthrax attacks. From 2011-2014 Malet led an EPA-NHSRC study of public risk communications following bioterrorism.
His work has been published in outlets including Foreign Affairs, Terrorism and Political Violence, The Journal of Homeland Security Management, Orbis, Defence Studies, The Monkey Cage, TIME, and Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. He provides analysis to media including NPR, CNN, CBC, Bloomberg Europe, Bloomberg Asia, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and Xinhua.
- See Also
- SPA Department of Justice, Law and Criminology
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Summer 2024
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JLC-470 Causes of Terrorism & Pol Viol
Fall 2024
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JLC-470 Causes of Terrorism & Pol Viol
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JLC-471 Evolution of Global Jihad
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JLC-663 Foreign Fighters
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JLC-898 Doctoral Continuing Enrollment
Spring 2025
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JLC-663 Foreign Fighters
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JLC-730 Insurgency,Terrorism,Conflict
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JLC-898 Doctoral Continuing Enrollment
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JLC-899 Doctoral Dissertation
AU Experts
Area of Expertise
Foreign fighters, terrorism, homeland security, Congress, US elections, bioterrorism, military biotechnology
Additional Information
David Malet’s teaching and research focuses on transnational militant groups, terrorism, US national security policy, the US Congress and elections, and military use of biotechnology. He has been researching foreign fighters since 2005 and is the author of Foreign Fighters: Transnational Identity in Civil Conflicts (Oxford University Press, 2013). He is also co-editor of Transnational Actors in War and Peace: Militants, Activists, and Corporations in World Politics (Georgetown University Press, 2017). His second book, Biotechnology and International Security (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016), explores how human enhancement, genetic weapons and other emerging technologies will influence the future of terrorism, warfare and international peace. His interest in military applications of biotech stems from his experience working in the congressional office that was the target of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Prof. Malet regularly consults on radicalization and the threats posed by foreign fighters and returnees for organizations including the US Department of State, the UK Foreign Ministry, the UAE Ministry of Youth and Culture, and Australian law enforcement agencies. His work has been published in outlets including Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, TIME, Terrorism and Political Violence, The Journal of Homeland Security Management, Orbis, and Defence Studies. He provides analysis of US politics and international security to media including NPR, CNN, CBC, ABC, CNBC, Bloomberg Europe, Bloomberg Asia, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and Xinhua.
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.