Dr. Natalie D. Baker is an Associate Professor of Strategy at the National War College. Her main research focus is on the importance of social order and the re-establishment of a sense of normalcy within instances of disruption. Examples include large-scale crises like disasters and war. Past research provided empirical critiques of disaster preparedness and resilience concepts. She dispels social chaos mythologies in the context of large-scale crises, and the role of mediated popular culture (e.g., movies and mass media) in perpetuating misconceptions of human behavior. Specific instances of crises studied have been Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, the 2014 Ebola situation in the US, the Covid-19 pandemic, and climate change. Another way she studies the re-establishment of order is through alternative forms of governance, such as what can be thought of as 'criminal insurgencies.' She has written on criminal factions in Brazil for Smal Wars Journal-El Centro, and journalist safety issues. Her most recent focus has been on the murder of reporters in Mexico. Baker also studies military culture and veteran trauma. Her forthcoming book is tentatively titled, Hellscapes.
Baker is an interpretivist, qualitative researcher and expert in ethnography/co/autoethnography. She has published in numerous peer-reviewed academic journals and given talks on her research across the world . Baker has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University and Sam Houston State University in areas related to national and international security. She received her PhD from the University of California at Irvine in Planning, Policy, and Design in addition to Masters degrees in both International Development as well as Tropical Medicine from Tulane University . Her Bachelors was from the University of Central Florida in Psychology.
FUNCTIONAL EXPERTISE: Mass Crises, Resilience, Governance, Social Order, Pandemics, Disaster, Conflict
REGIONAL EXPERTISE: Latin America/Mexico and Brazil, Middle East/Turkey and Syria
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