Jennifer Bushaw
Investigative Research Associate
Political and historical trends in the Middle East have been the basis of Jennifer Bushaw‘s research inside as well as outside of academia. With a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago in Middle Eastern Studies, Bushaw has demonstrated a knowledge of Middle Eastern politics, history, culture and language. She studied such topics as National Security Strategy, Terrorism, Civil and Religious Wars, the Modern History of Iraq and a three-course Islamic history sequence. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Michigan, focusing on modern military history and conflicts.
Bushaw’s graduate career at the University of Chicago was impressive, starting with Beginning Modern Standard Arabic. She continued to excel through the Intensive Summer Arabic Program at the University of Chicago, compressing one full year of Arabic into only nine short weeks. Throughout the program, she earned the highest grades and an excellent endorsement from her professor. Bushaw continued developing her language skills in the second year of her Master’s degree at the High Intermediate level. During this time she participated in debates, presented research projects, wrote papers and attended lectures, all in Arabic.
High marks were awarded to Bushaw’s Master’s Thesis, entitled, “From the Rubble: An Inquiry Into the Nature of the Violence in the Days Immediately Following the Bombing Attack on Iraq’s al-Askariya Mosque”. A political analysis of civil war, the project revolved around the attack in Samarra, Iraq, that took place in February of 2006. Bushaw used media articles from many areas of the world – the U.S., the Middle East and even China – to establish the facts of the bombing as well as the violence in its aftermath. Through the use of three political theories on civil war, including that of Carl Schmidt, Bushaw determined that the violence in Iraq in the latter days of February did not constitute civil war, despite the ample evidence of civil unrest.
Bushaw was recently appointed an Iraq blogger for the Foreign Policy Association’s “Great Decisions 2008” website. In this role, she has written on many topics involving the war in Iraq, such as contracted security, Iraq’s involvement in the Olympics, relations with Iran, U.S.-Iraqi security contracts and the presidential hopefuls’ future policies on the war. She has also written many articles analyzing media coverage on Iraq and related topics.
During graduate school, Bushaw received two scholarships and much acclaim for her research projects. She received a full tuition gift from the University of Chicago for her second year of study. Bushaw also earned a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Scholarship for her summer Arabic program, awarded only to a select group of students enrolled in area studies programs nationwide. Additionally, Robert Pape, a leading expert on suicide terrorism, recommended Bushaw’s research project on suicide entitled, “Suicide or Sacrifice? An Examination of the Sati Ritual in India” for electronic publication linked to his work on terrorism.
As Research Associate for Hillard Heintze, Jennifer Bushaw draws upon years of research experience as well as her knowledge of security strategy. In this role, Bushaw conducts research, prepares findings and presents briefings for our clients, particularly in the Investigative and Threat Assessment Divisions. Of special interest to a select group of our clients is Bushaw’s keen insight into the Middle East. She holds a Top Secret Security Clearance.
