My name is Eric W. Nelson, a native of Dumas, Arkansas, and a graduate of the class of 1991. I grew up as a small-town country kid. I continue to chase my goals while looking out and assisting others in achieving their goals. Leaving Dumas immediately after high school graduation, I joined the Marine Corps, where I successfully served this country for over twenty years before I retired as a Chief Warrant Officer. I moved on to become a corporate executive and am now the Chief Executive Officer of Nelson Intelligence Solutions, LLC.I graduated Marine Corps' recruit training on November 22, 1991, and went to Camp Pendleton, California to attend Marine Corps Combat Training (MCT), where I became a distinguished graduate. Upon graduation, I received orders to the Defense Mapping School, currently The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, for Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) training as a 0261 Geographic Intelligence Analyst. After successful completion of MOS training, in January of 1993, I was assigned to the 2nd Topographic Platoon, 2nd Intelligence Company, 2nd Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Intelligence Group (SRIG). While assigned to the 2nd Topographic Platoon, I went on two consecutive deployments with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) where I participated in operations Restore Hope, Provide Promise, Deny Flight, and Joint Endeavor. In February of 1997 as a Sergeant, I transferred to the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center (NMITC) in Dam Neck, Virginia, to assume duties of a basic intelligence instructor. While assigned to NMITC, I received the honor of being certified as a Master Instructor, Instructor of the Year, and also obtained a secondary MOS as a 0231 Intelligence Analyst. In January 2000, I attended the Advance Topographic Analysis Course at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, where I achieved becoming the honor graduate. Immediately after the advanced course, I transferred to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D. C., where I served as a Geospatial Intelligence Officer. While assigned to DIA, I also served in the J2, Joint Targeting for the Joint Chief of Staff in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. In September 2003, I checked into the 3rd Topographic Platoon, 3rd Intelligence Battalion at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, Japan. As a Gunnery Sergeant, I served in a multitude of places, such as the Terrain Analysis Chief, Operations/Production Chief, Intelligence Chief, and the Company Gunnery Sergeant. I also had the pleasure of deploying/serving as 31st MEU's Intelligence Chief in the Al Anbar province of Iraq during the fall of Fallujah (al-Fajr) and the first Iraqi election. In May of 2006, I joined Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) as a Project Officer for the Topographic Production Capability (TPC). This duty included managing a contract in excess of [...] million dollars, in addition to overseeing numerous contracts to re-outfit the Marine Corps' entire geospatial capability. In February 2008, I was appointed to Warrant Officer and assigned as a Senior All-source Intelligence Analysis Officer. After Completing the Warrant Officer Basic Course and the Marine Intelligence Analysis Career Course, I was assigned to the Geospatial Intelligence Directorate at the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity as the Deputy Director of Production, which culminated in more than twenty years of my honorable service.Some of my personal military awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Commendation Medal, a Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal, two Joint Service Achievement Medals, two Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and five Good Conduct Medals.

Acknowledgements; Note on conventions; Introduction; 1. Greek nonsense in More's Utopia; 2. The Roman agrarian laws and Machiavelli's modi privati; 3. James Harrington and the 'balance of justice'; 4. 'Prolem cum matre creatam': the background to Montesquieu; 5. Montesquieu's Greek republics; 6. The Greek tradition and the American Founding; Coda: Tocqueville and the Greeks; Bibliography; Index.