Corri Zoli’s research focuses on contemporary problems of warfare from an interdisciplinary social science, public policy, and law perspective, with attention to the culture and governance of contemporary conflict dynamics, changing patterns of global conflict, and the role of international humanitarian law in contemporary conflict dynamics.
One track of Zoli’s research investigates the changing nature of the US military force structure, the challenges of asymmetric warfare for military personnel, and data-driven inquiry into servicemembers’ and veterans’ service and post-service experiences, including post-9/11 veterans’ reintegration and subsequent pathway in higher education, civic engagement, and employment. Zoli’s veterans research uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to help prioritize their perspectives, as in the co-authored white paper, Missing Perspectives: Servicemembers’ Transition from Service to Civilian Life.
On another track, Zoli analyzes the role of technology, culture, and religion in contemporary security dynamics and in postconflict transition. This includes the role of Islamic law in mitigating conflict and postconflict dynamics; Muslim-majority states’ international law conflict and compliance behavior; problems of law and governance in Afghanistan and Pakistan; and the importance of Islamic and international norms for transitioning post-Arab Spring states.
In her graduate/law seminar Law and War, Zoli prioritizes interdisciplinary research with various partners in and beyond Syracuse University, including the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF); United States Institute of Peace (USIP); New America Foundation (NAF); International Institute of Higher Studies in Criminal Sciences (ISISC); the US Department of State; and others.
Zoli’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, and Google. Her work has been published in Foreign Policy, Harvard National Security Journal, and the Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, among other venues.
Zoli earned her Ph.D. in cultural studies and international relations at SU (2004) and completed all credits in the professional policy master’s degree program at SU Maxwell School. She is a senior researcher at IVMF; a faculty member in political science and international relations at Maxwell School; an honorary professor at the Institute for Religion, Politics, and Society at Australian Catholic University, Melbourne; and Chair of the Academic Advisory Board for the Warrior-Scholar Program.
Podcasts / Webinars
The HDIAC Podcast » Rethinking Culture in the Context of Civil-Military Relations – Part 2 of 3
In Part 2 of Rethinking Culture in the Context of Civil-Military Relations, Dr. Rubinstein and Dr. Zoli discuss the strategic effectiveness of DoD efforts to engage culturally in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as debate enduring questions regarding these efforts’ processes and outcomes.
The HDIAC Podcast » Rethinking Culture in the Context of Civil-Military Relations – Part 1 of 3
This podcast is the first in a multi-part series discussing the impact of culture in the context of civil-military relations. In this episode, Dr. Corri Zoli and Dr. Robert Rubinstein explore definitions of culture and discuss how different organizational cultures have led the U.S. military and humanitarian groups to pursue divergent on-the-ground security strategies in conflict zones.
The HDIAC Podcast » Rethinking Culture in the Context of Civil-Military Relations – Part 3 of 3
In the third installment of Rethinking Culture in the Context of Civil-Military Relations, Dr. Zoli and Dr. Rubinstein continue the conversation around different cultural models of risk and security and discuss the broader impacts of taking a militarized approach to security abroad.
The HDIAC Podcast » Leveraging the Law of Armed Conflict in Creating Human Rights Compliant Counterterrorism Policy – Part 1 of 2
Most experts in the U.S. defense and military policy and practitioners’ communities know that the United States is a longstanding global leader in human rights compliant counterterrorism operations. Few make the link between law of war leadership on the part… Read More
The HDIAC Podcast » Leveraging the Law of Armed Conflict in Creating Human Rights Compliant Counterterrorism Policy – Part 2 of 2
Most experts in the U.S. defense and military policy and practitioners’ communities know that the United States is a longstanding global leader in human rights compliant counterterrorism operations. Few make the link between law of war leadership on the part… Read More
The HDIAC Podcast » Socio-Cultural Understanding of the Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) Region – Part 1 of 2
In this podcast, Dr. Zoli discusses what she believes to be the top five challenges for Afghanistan and Pakistan and their relationship today, with emphasis on U.S. and Chinese security posture and engagement with the Central and South Asian regions. The five most pressing issues for both nations are governance, including corruption, economic development, and in the case of Pakistan, managing human capital; security and post-conflict recovery, including what to do with extremist actors, external assistance, and in the case of Afghanistan, lack of state (province to federal) integration; managing existing conflict actors and pluralism (religious, ethnic, tribal), which involves addressing internal and external actors and insurgents, delinking both nations from “Global Islamist Jihad” and their networks; and revising regional engagement strategies, especially for the United States, India, and China. In the course of this analysis, Dr. Zoli will also define cultural approaches to national and international security challenges in this region, and address how they implicate US homeland security and defense.
The HDIAC Podcast » Socio-Cultural Understanding of the Afghanistan-Pakistan (Af-Pak) Region – Part 2 of 2
In this podcast, Dr. Zoli discusses what she believes to be the top five challenges for Afghanistan and Pakistan and their relationship today, with emphasis on U.S. and Chinese security posture and engagement with the Central and South Asian regions. The five most pressing issues for both nations are governance, including corruption, economic development, and in the case of Pakistan, managing human capital; security and post-conflict recovery, including what to do with extremist actors, external assistance, and in the case of Afghanistan, lack of state (province to federal) integration; managing existing conflict actors and pluralism (religious, ethnic, tribal), which involves addressing internal and external actors and insurgents, delinking both nations from “Global Islamist Jihad” and their networks; and revising regional engagement strategies, especially for the United States, India, and China. In the course of this analysis, Dr. Zoli will also define cultural approaches to national and international security challenges in this region, and address how they implicate US homeland security and defense.
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