Dr. Sonya Finley

Faculty bio photo

Dr. Sonya Finley – DOD

Professor, National Security Strategy

Dr. Sonya Finley is a professor of strategy at the National War College and adjunct professor within the Georgetown University Security Studies Program. She also has designed courses and taught at the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, National Defense University and the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Sonya retired as a U.S. Army Colonel after a 26-year career with key assignments as a strategist/strategic advisor, planner, and speechwriter for senior uniformed leaders in the Republic of Korea, Iraq, and Washington D.C., as well as the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy (Plans). She is a former East-West Center fellow and former term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds a BA from Emory University, an MPA from Cornell University, a Certificate in Strategic Thinking and Management for Competitive Advantage from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD from Virginia Tech.

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* Note: Links to Published Works are Embedded in the Blue Text

Journal Articles

Communicating in a Complex World: Incorporating Gender Perspectives into Professional Military Education

On Track Issue 33, pp 21-27, September 2024

A Framework for Military Leaders: Assessing the Information Environment

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Command and Staff Military Journal, Issue 13, 2023

Teaching Public Diplomacy and the Information Instruments of Power in a Complex Information Environment (with Vivian S. Walker, eds.)

Section: Conceptualizing the Information Space

Chapter: A 3Cs Framework for Conceptualizing the Competitive Information Environment

U.S. State Department, Editor and Author, pp 6-9, 2020

Winning the Ground Battles but Losing the Information War (with Gina Cairns-McFeeters, John Shapiro, Steve Nettleton, and Daryk Zirkle)

Small Wars Journal, 2010

South Korea Leads the Warfight (with B.B. Bell)

Joint Force Quarterly, 2007

Democratic America in Northeast Asia: US Strategy, Missile Defense, and Implications for Allied Defense Relationships – Abstract

Pacific Focus, March 2003

Book Review

Book Review Roundtable: Why a Political Sensibility Is Important to Successful Military Operations

Review – Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine (by Lawerence Freedman)

Chapter 4: Calling for Military Leaders with 'Political Sensibility' Able to Adapt to the Enduring Nature of War

Texas National Security Review, 28 August 2024