Barnes professional profile

CPT Jake Barnes

Instructor of American Politics

jacob.barnes2@westpoint.edu

Biography


Captain Jake Barnes is an instructor of American Politics in the Department of Social Sciences at West Point.  Since graduating from West Point in 2014 as an intelligence officer, he has served in a variety of tactical intelligence positions in 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division and 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division.  Most recently, Jake served as the Squadron Intelligence Officer for 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bliss, Texas.  He holds a B.S. in history from the United States Military Academy and a M.A. in political science from Duke University.  A devout Christian, Jake is married to Elizabeth Barnes and has two beautiful daughters.

Ongoing Research Projects


“Veterans and the Inter-Branch Tensions Over Use of Force Decisions” – This paper examines the impact of veterans on formal congressional and presidential actions involving the use of military force abroad.  Using data from 1900-2020, this paper compares the percentage of veterans in Congress and the Cabinet (including the President) to see if a greater percentage of veterans in either branch led to more assertive formal actions from that branch concerning the use of military force.  These formal actions included declarations of war, authorizations to use military force, uses of force based on existing treaties, and purely executive uses of force.  This paper found little evidence of a general relationship between veteran percentages and formal action but there is room to examine specific case studies that involve dramatic differences in veteran percentages between the two branches.