Chair of Applied History
Dr. Jacob Stoil is the chair of applied history at the Modern War Institute, an associate professor of military history at the US Army School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), senior fellow of 40th Infantry Division Urban Warfare Center, assistant director of the Second World War Research Group (North America), and a founding member of the International Working Group on Subterranean Warfare. His career has focused on developing deep academic expertise and applying rigorous historical research to help inform contemporary operational, strategic, and policy discussions. He previously held positions at the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA), Colgate University, and the International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence (ICSR).
Dr. Stoil received his doctorate in history from the University of Oxford. He holds a BA in war studies and an MA in the history of warfare from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. Dr. Stoil’s doctoral work focused on irregular warfare in the Middle East and Horn of Africa during the Second World War. He continues to research irregular warfare, special operations, and indigenous forces. He has published numerous academic articles on the subject, including in the International Journal of Military History, the British Journal of Military History, and Revue d’histoire. He has received Command and General Staff College Silver Pen Awards for his articles focusing on the relationship between the pre-state Israeli paramilitaries and British special operations, as well as his article on preparing the US military for the realities of globally integrated campaigning, which was published in Military Review. Dr. Stoil has presented his scholarly work at academic conferences around the world and lectured on military history in universities across three continents.
Dr. Stoil also maintains an ongoing research focus on the Israeli military and Israeli security and strategy. He has been involved in research in this topic area since 2005, with multiple years’ worth of field work in the country. Dr. Stoil has interviewed Israeli commanders and soldiers, from all of its wars, covering a span from the 1930s to the present day. He has published on topics of Israeli strategy and operations and is taking part in a project translating the Winograd Report into the Second Lebanon War into English. He applies this historical knowledge to practice by supporting engagements between elements of the US military and Israeli security organizations including the Israeli military and police.
In addition to his traditional academic work, Dr. Stoil specializes in applying history to contemporary operational and policy challenges. Dr. Stoil helped establish the curriculum for the US Army’s Urban Warfare Planner’s Course. Based on his historical research into urban and subterranean operations, he has advised both the Center for Army Doctrine Development (CADD) and Mission Command Battle Labs (MCBL). The findings of his research have directly influenced aspects of forthcoming Army brigade doctrine.
He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @JacobStoil.