Ethan Harding is a major in the US Marine Corps, holding the job specialties of Tank Officer, Civil Affairs Officer, and Regional Area Officer for Middle East and North Africa. He has deployed numerous times in stability operations roles in both Iraq and Afghanistan, most recently serving as Nimroz Provincial Director in Afghanistan, where we worked daily with Afghan officials in the southwestern province of Nimroz. Ethan received his BA in History, and holds masters degrees in Military Art and Sciences, and International Relations, respectively. He is a frequent contributor to the professional journal, Marine Corps Gazette, and in 2011 published a book titled, "Identifying the Pillars of Stability Operations: Using Social Science to Bridge the Gap in Operational Doctrine". Ethan is also the founder of the Institute for the Study of Social Stability - an online consortium of ideas that promotes the use of social science to gain efficiencies and effectiveness in stability operations. He currently serves as the Middle East and North Africa Planner for I Marine Expeditionary Force in California.