Aidan Kirby Winn is a doctoral candidate in the War Studies Department at King's College London. She is studying the utility of amnesty and defection programs in the context of counterinsurgency. She is also an adjunct staff member at the RAND Corporation, conducting research to support a unique U.S. government pilot program operating in both Iraq and Afghanistan that seeks to develop host nation capabilities for gathering and exploiting counterinsurgency (COIN) intelligence. From 2008 to 2011 Ms. Winn was a project associate at RAND conducting research for a wide variety of defense and intelligence studies. Prior to joining RAND, she was associate director of National Security Studies and Analysis at Hicks and Associates, Inc (a subsidiary of SAIC), where she led studies on mass-casualty response preparedness, nuclear deterrence assessment, adversary profiling and the use of new media for strategic communication purposes. From 2004-2006 she was a research associate in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies where she managed the Transatlantic Dialogue on Terrorism, an effort to promote an open and timely discourse between counterterrorism experts from across the United States and Europe. Ms. Winn holds a master's degree from the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University and a bachelor's degree in history and philosophy from McMaster University. Her research and commentary has appeared in publications including the Baltimore Sun, the Christian Science Monitor, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Washington Times, World Politics Review, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism and Parameters.