About Dr. Patterson

Eric Patterson, Ph.D. is Executive Vice President of the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington D.C. He is also the scholar-at-large and the former dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University. His research and teaching focus on religion and politics, ethics and international affairs, and just-war theory in the context of contemporary conflict. Patterson previously taught at Georgetown University and has extensive government experience, including service as a White House Fellow and special assistant to the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, two stints in the State Department’s Bureau of Political and Military Affairs, and ongoing service as an officer and commander in the Air National Guard.  Patterson has spoken to many government audiences such as the French Department of Defense, U.S. Military Academy (West Point), the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis), the Armed Forces Chaplains Center, National Defense University, the Pentagon, the Naval Postgraduate School, the Foreign Service Institute, and other government venues.  He is the author or editor of fourteen books, including Just War and Christian Traditions (with J. Daryl Charles, forthcoming 2020), Ending Wars Well: Just War Thinking and Post-Conflict, and Ethics Beyond War’s End (Georgetown University Press, 2012.) He has also edited two volumes on Christian realism and has been published in numerous journals including Survival, International Studies Perspectives, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, International Politics, Journal of Diplomacy and International Affairs, and Journal of Political Science, among others.