Our March speaker, Dr. David Shin, has been teaching at NIU since 2011. He has over 25 years of U.S. Army intelligence experience. This includes collaboration and coordination with allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region during various staff and leadership assignments with the Second Infantry Division (Platoon Leader), Intelligence and Security Command (Chief and Special Agent in Charge, Security Liaison Detachment, Tokyo), 3rd Special Forces Group (A) (Counterintelligence Officer), Defense Intelligence Agency (Assistant Army Attaché, U.S. Embassy-Seoul), United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission at Panmunjom (Staff Officer), Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (Senior Army Research Fellow), U.S. Army Pacific (G-5, Security Cooperation and Policy), and the Joint Staff (North Korea Desk Officer (Six-Party Talks Staff Officer) and Northeast Asia Division Chief, J-5).
He teaches courses on North Korea, Analyzing the Global Strategic Environment, Leadership and Management in the Intelligence Community, Northeast Asia Geostrategic Intelligence Issues, and East Asia Intelligence Issues.
A 1986 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (Distinguished Military Graduate), he earned the M.S. in Strategic Intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College (1992), M.A. in International Studies from the University of Washington (1996), and M.S. in National Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School, National Defense University (2008). He earned his Ph.D. in Defence and Security Studies in 2016 from Cranfield University, Defence Academy, United Kingdom. He is also a graduate of the Republic of Korea Army Staff College (1997) and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (1999).
Dr. Shin’s publications include: “Future Warfare: Back to Basics,” Military Review (September-October 1999); “Bolder U.S. Policy Options toward North Korea and Their Implications in Northeast Asia,” Korea and World Affairs, Vol. 24, No. 1, Spring 2000; “Future of the U.S.-ROK Alliance: Managing the Perception Gap,” Korea National Defense Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2005; “Narrowing the Gap: DoD and Stability Operations,” Military Review (March-April 2009); “Awakening Beyond Iraq: Time to Engage Radical Islamists as Stakeholders,” Military Review (May-June 2009); “North Korea’s Post-Totalitarian State: The Rise of the Suryong (Supreme Leader) and the Transfer of Charismatic Leadership,” American Intelligence Journal, December 2016; co-authored with Tim Kucala, NIU Point-Counterpoint Research Short titled “Did Coercion Bring North Korea to the Negotiating Table and Why Does That Matter?” October 16, 2018; and “A Cautionary Report: Resilience of the U.S.-ROK Alliance during the Pro-North Korea Engagement Era of Progressive Rule in South Korea,” North Korean Review, Volume 15, Number 2, Fall 2019. He also published two books titled Rationality in the North Korean Regime: Understanding the Kims’ Strategy of Provocation, Lexington Books, an Imprint of Rowman & Littlefield (2018) and Kim Jong-Un’s Strategy for Survival: A Method to Madness, published in November 2020 with Lexington Books (2021).
Dr. Shin has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal (two awards), Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), Joint Service Commendation Medal (two awards), Army Commendation Medal (three awards), Joint Service Achievement Medal (two awards), Republic of Korea National Security Merit Medal (Samil), Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff Commendation Medal, and the Taiwan Army Commendation Medal.