S. Rebecca Zimmerman

Biography

Rebecca Zimmerman is a doctoral candidate in strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), writing on U.S. military institutions in Afghanistan. She has studied topics ranging from Army force structure to the role of media in conflict. A specialist in field research, Zimmerman in her work with the RAND Corporation has focused on Afghanistan and Southeast Asia, researching special operations and issues of governance and development. In 2010, she deployed to Afghanistan to conduct extensive interviews of Afghan National Police in the eastern, southern and western regions and assisted with implementation of the Special Forces Village Stability Operations (VSO) program in the south. This built on her 2007-8 work in Afghanistan supporting efforts to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and studying force protection methods of U.S. Army Special Operations Forces. Her RAND work also includes several field research trips to Mindanao, Philippines, a place she first visited as a Boren Fellow, to interview both insurgents and Filipino and Malaysian military about the conflict there. Prior to this, her career spanned the security and development fields, working primarily on weapons of mass destruction terrorism and international health. Zimmerman graduated with honors from Stanford University and has an M.A. in strategic studies from SAIS. She is fluent in French, proficient in Indonesian, and has studied Russian, German and Farsi.