National Security Professor's Analysis Featured in Forbes

As part of an op-ed published recently in Forbes magazine, she examined an attack earlier this year in which a woman carrying a baby, and with two children, detonated a bomb in a crowded market in the town of Madagali, Nigeria, killing six people and injuring 17.

She wrote that the use of babies in suicide bombings is not a common global tactic, but Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group based in northeastern Nigeria, has attempted this tactic on several occasions. 

Suicide attacks will persist if the underlying factors that have allowed suicide bombers and Boko Haram to exist are not addressed

"In Nigeria, there is a great discrepancy in social, economic, and almost every other indicator between the north and south. "As long as desperate conditions persist, so will Boko Haram.

"It is critical that the Food and Agriculture Organization's demands are met in order to not only address the immediate humanitarian crisis, but also to bolster security and to eventually eradicate Boko Haram's presence in the region," she concluded.

A former private investigator, Markovic uses her real-world experience and her research to enrich her classes.

"Having a strong academic background in national security is important," she says. "Getting this education from people who have worked in the field is invaluable."