Courses, Lectures, and Speaking Engagements

Climate change

• 22 Sept 2025, “U.S. Security Assistance and Climate Change Challenges,” Natural Sciences Seminar, California State University at Monterey Bay (CSUMB).

• 20 Mar 2025, “Humanitarian Assistance and Climate Change,” Human Rights and Rule of Law course, William J. Perry Center, National Defense University (NDU), Washington DC.

• 18 Sept 2024, “Seven Humanitarian Missions to Mitigate Climate Change,” (delivered in Spanish), Second Conference on Environmental Protection, Inter-American Defense Board, Washington DC.

• 12 Sept 2024, “Solutions to Climate Change: Air and Plastics Pollution,” (delivered in Spanish), Climate Change and Implications for Defense and Security (CCIDS) Course, National Defense University.

• 10 Sept 2024, “History of Climate Change Mitigation Efforts,” (delivered in Spanish), Climate Change and Implications for Defense and Security (CCIDS) Course, National Defense University.

• 09 Sept 2024, “Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean,” (delivered in Spanish), Governance and Strategy for Security and Defense (GSSD) Course, National Defense University.

• 15 May 2024, “Climate Change and Maritime Pollution,” delivered in Spanish, Advanced Maritime Security Policy (MSP) course, National Defense University.

• 31 Oct 2023, “Climate Change and the Role of the Armed Forces in Latin America,” Center for Applied Strategic Learning (CASL), 30 Oct 2023.

• 28 August 2023, “Climate Change in Latin America and the Caribbean,” The National Guard Adjutant General (TAG) Conference, Miami, Florida.

• 22 Aug 2023, “Resumen de Grupo de Trabajo Cambio Climatico y Seguridad Ambiental,” South American Security and Defense Summit. Cartagena, Colombia (delivered in Spanish).

• 13 July 2023, “Solutions to Climate Change: Air and Plastics Pollution,” Climate Change and Implications for Defense and Security (CCIDS) course, National Defense University.

• 13 July 2023, “Role of the Security Forces in Climate Change Mitigation Efforts,” Climate Change and Implications for Defense and Security (CCIDS) course, National Defense University.

• 08 Feb 2023, “Cambio Climático y Seguridad Ambiental en América Central,” Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC). San Jose, Costa Rica (delivered in Spanish).

   

  Human Rights

• 07 Oct 2025, “Research summary: The Blurred Battlefield - The Perplexing Conflation of Conflict and Criminal Law and What It Means for U.S. Special Operations Forces,” to Center on National Security and the Law, Georgetown Law School (online presentation).

• 29 Nov 2023, “El Conflicto Rusia-Ucrania y el Derecho Internacional Humanitario (DIH),” U.S. Southern Command Human Rights Initiative, online presentation to Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

• 19 October 2022, “El Conflicto Rusia-Ucrania y el Orden Mundial Internacional,” Inter-American Defense College (IADC), Washington D.C.

• 06 Aug 2021, “Research Summary: The Blurred Battlefield,” Joint Special Operations University (JSOU) ThinkJSOU webinar series, Tampa, FL.

• 22 Oct 2019. “Human Rights Challenges in Partnered Operations in the Western Hemisphere,” International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) IHL Workshop, Washington DC.

• 24 July 2019, “Derechos Humanos en Operaciones de Mantenimiento de la Paz (PKO),” Ministerio de Defensa de Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

• 13 May 2019, “Central America and the U.S. Immigration Crisis,” Capstone Course, National Defense University, Washington, DC.

• 18 May 2017, Lecture, “Training Surrogate Forces in International Humanitarian Law: Lessons from Peru, El Salvador, Colombia, and Iraq.” International Special Training Centre (ISTC) in Pfullendorf, Germany. 

Latin America & the Caribbean

• 24 Feb 2025, “Results of the Perry Center Threats Survey,” Capstone Course, National Defense University, Washington, DC.

• 19 Sept 2023, “Resultados de la Encuesta de Amenazas en América Latina,” to CEDEYAC, Peru. Conducted online.

• 23 June 2022, International Class, Air War College, “Security Challenges in the Americas,” National Defense University, Washington DC.  

• 26 Oct 2019, “Central America and the U.S. Immigration Crisis,” Capstone Course, National Defense University, Washington, DC.

• 01 Sept 2019, “Tendencias de Seguridad Regional en América Latina,” Academia Nacional de Estudios Políticos y Estrategicos (ANEPE), Santiago, Chile.

• 01 Sept 2019, “Liderazgo Estratégico en el Nuevo Ambiente de Seguridad,” Academia Nacional de Estudios Políticos y Estrategicos (ANEPE), Santiago, Chile.

  Civil-Military Relations

• September 2022, Political Polarization and the Civilian-Military Divide. Guest appearance on C-SPAN. Washington, DC. September, 2022.

• 19 Apr 2025, “Civilian and Military Capabilities, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR),” (delivered in Spanish), Defense Governance Course, William J. Perry Center, National Defense University (NDU), Washington DC.

• 13 Apr 2021, “Capacidades HADR Civiles y Militares,” Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) course, William J. Perry Center, National Defense University, Washington DC (delivered in Spanish).

• 23 March 2021, “Civilian and Military Capacities of HADR,” Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) course, William J. Perry Center, National Defense University, Washington DC (delivered in Spanish).

  Foreign Policy and International Security 

• Managing Security and Defense: Tools, Techniques, and Practices. Facilitator, National Defense University, December 2015.

• Security and Defense Policy (SDP). Facilitator, National Defense University, September 2015.

• Perspectives on Homeland Security and Defense (PHSD) 2014. Director, National Defense University, September 2014.

• Washington Seminar on Defense and Security (WSDS) 2014. Director, National Defense University, September 2014.

• Decision Making from the Comparative Perspective (Toma de Decisiones en Perspectiva Comparativa). Lecturer, Strategy and International Security Course, National Defense University. March, 2014.

• Challenges to Fulfilling the Roles of the Armed Forces in Homeland Security (Desafios para las Fuerzas Armadas Cumpliendo Roles de Seguridad Interna). Presenter, Seminar on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, Inter-American Defense College, Washington DC. December, 2013.

• The Pivot to the Pacific – U.S. Navy Strategy and Strategic Concerns. Lecturer, Visit of the Brazilian Naval War College, National Defense University. September, 2013.

• Challenges for the Armed Forces: Fulfilling Homeland Security Roles (Desafíos para las Fuerzas Armadas: Cumpliendo Roles de Seguridad Interna). Lecturer, Inter-American Defense College, Washington, DC. December, 2012.

• Decision-Making Theory: Case Studies of the 1961 Bay of Pigs and the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Lecturer, Strategy and International Security Course, National Defense University, Washington, DC. October, 2012.

• Contemporary Challenges in the War on Drugs. Lecturer, Reserve Component National Security Course, Washington, DC. July, 2012.

• Perspectives on Homeland Security and Defense (Introducción a las Perspectivas de Seguridad y Defensa Nacional). Lecturer, Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS), Washington, DC. April, 2012.

• Perspectives on Global Antiterrorism (Perspectivas Globales Antiterroristas). Conference Presentation, Universidad Militar de Nueva Granada, Bogota, Colombia. August, 2011.

• 9/11 and Foreign Policy of the Bush and Obama Administrations (Los Atentados de 11 de Septiembre y la Política Exterior de los Gobiernos de Bush y Obama). Conference Presentation, Universidad Militar de Nueva Granada, Bogota, Colombia. August, 2011.

• The Challenges of International Intelligence Sharing and Security Coordination (Los Retos del Intercambio de Inteligencia para la Coordinación en Seguridad). Panel Moderator, CHDS Sub-Regional Conference, Santiago, Chile. July, 2011

• U.S. Navy: Fourth Fleet Counter-Drug Missions. Lecturer, Caribbean Regional Security System (RSS) Annual Conference, Bridgetown Barbados. December, 2008.

• U.S. Strategic Interests in Africa. Lecturer, U.S. Naval Academy Political Science Department, Annapolis, MD. April, 2008.

• U.S. Foreign Policy in Africa. Lecturer, U.S. Naval Academy Political Science Department, Annapolis, MD. November, 2006.

• U.S. Counter-Terror Efforts in Africa. Lecturer, U.S. Naval Academy Political Science Department, Annapolis, MD. November, 2006.

Other Topics

• Wars, Lies and Audiotape. BBC Radio Interview on The Gulf of Tonkin Incident. August, 2014.

To view Pat's complete CV, click here.