Stephen Van Evera

STEPHEN VAN EVERA is Ford International Professor in the MIT Political Science Department. He earned his B.A. in government from Harvard and his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. Prof. Van Evera works in several areas of international relations: the causes and prevention of war, U.S. foreign policy, U.S. security policy, U.S. intervention in the Third World, international relations of the Middle East, and international relations theory. He has published books on the causes of war and on social science methodology, and articles on American foreign policy, American defense policy, nationalism and the causes of war, the origins of World War I, and U.S. strategy in the War on Terror. He currently serves as chair of the Tobin Project committee on national security.

Courses

• 17.42 The Causes and Prevention of War (Syllabus)
• 17.428 American Foreign Policy: Theory and Method (Syllabus)
• 17.432 Causes and Prevention of War: Theory and Method (Syllabus)
• 17.40 American Foreign Policy (Syllabus)

Selected Articles re: War on Terror

• "Using U.S. Leverage to Abate Conflicts That Harm U.S. Security," in Stephen Van Evera and Sidharth Shah, eds., The Prudent Use of Power in American National Security Strategy, The Tobin Project, 2010.
• "Public Diplomacy: Ideas for the War of Ideas," with Peter Krause, Middle East Policy, Vol. XVI, No. 3, Fall 2009, pp. 106-134.
• "The War on Terror: Forgotten Lessons from WWII" Middle East Policy (Vol. XIV, No. 2, Summer 2007) (pdf, 46KB, 10p)
• "Iraq: Canary in a Coal Mine," MIT International Review, Spring 2007 (pdf, 188KB, 4p)
• "Bush Administration, Weak on Terror," Middle East Policy (Vol. XIII, No. 4, Winter 2006.) (pdf, 142KB, 11p)
• "American Foreign Policy for the New Era," from How to Make America Safe: New Policies for National Security, ed. Stephen Van Evera (Cambridge, MA: Tobin Project, 2006).
• "On Every Front: A Strategy for the War On Terror" is one of many papers on broad strategy for American foreign policy and on strategy against al-Qaeda available at the Tobin Project's National Security Working Group web site.
• "Assessing U.S. Strategy in the War on Terror," The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science (Vol. 607, September 2006) (pdf, 76KB, 17p)
• "Israel-Palestine," in Derek S. Reveron and Jeffrey Stevenson Murer, eds., Flashpoints in the War on Terrorism ( New York: Palgrave, 2006) (pdf, 93KB, 30p)
• Why U.S. National Security Requires Mideast Peace Audits of the Conventional Wisdom, MIT Center For International Studies, April 2005 (pdf, 210KB, 8p)
• Vital Interest : Winning the War on Terror Requires a Mideast Peace Settlement The American Conservative, March 14th, 2005, p.7 (pdf, 74k, pp. 4)

Other Articles

• "U.S. Social Science and International Relations," warontherocks.com, February 9, 2015.
• “European Militaries and the Origins of World War I,” in The Next Great War?: The Roots of World War I and the Risk of U.S.-China Conflict,  Richard N. Rosecrance and Steven E Miller, eds., (Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 2015).
• "A Farewell to Geopolitics," In Melvyn P. Leffler and Jeffrey W. Legro, eds., To Lead the World: American Strategy after the Bush Doctrine, (Oxford, 2008) pp. 11-35.
• "Why States Believe Foolish Ideas: Non-Self-Evaluation By States And Societies," Andrew K. Hanami, ed., Perspectives on Structural Realism (NY Palgrave, 2003): 163-198. (pdf, 120k, pp. 46)
• "Primordialism Lives!", APSA-CP: Newsletter of the Organized Section in Comperative Politics of the American Political Science Association, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Winter 2001): 20-22.

Selected Media Appearances

• September 2015, Interview on 52-insights.com, "The Rise and Fall of an Empire."
• December 3, 2015, speaker at a Starr Forum on Religion & Violence, sponsored by the Center for International Studies. (video)
• March 6, 2012, lecture at MIT Alumni Association's Faculty Forum, "A Farewell to Geopolitics." (video)
• February 13, 2012, lecture at Cambridge Forum on Global Engagement, "A Farewell to Geopolitics."
• September 1, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday,"Defense Secretary Gates says Iraq War is over"
• October 16, 2009, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "President Obama weighs options in Afghanistan"
• June 30, 2009, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "Deadline for US troops out of Iraq cities"
• January 13, 2009, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "International relations expert on foreign policy challenges facing U.S."
• September 11, 2008, WBUR (Boston), "On Point," "Who's Winning the War on Terror?"
• April 1, 2008, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "Calm returns to Iraq?"
• October 26, 2007, Radio Open Source, "They Got It Right (4) Steve Van Evera "
• September 6, 2007, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "Congress hears assessments of Iraq War"
• June 19, 2007, WBUR (Boston), "On Point," " Critiquing America at War"
• February 22, 2007, Minnesota Public Radio," Midday," "More bombings, more protests over Iraq war"
• October 18, 2006, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "What does the U.S. need to do in Iraq?"
• July 11, 2006, WBUR (Boston), "On Point," "Spotlight on Somalia"
• March 15, 2006, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "Third Anniversary of Iraq War Approaches"
• October 26, 2005, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "U.S. Troop Deaths in Iraq top 2,000"
• March 1, 2005, WBUR (Boston), "On Point," "Democracy in the Middle East"
• June 28, 2005, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "After a year of sovereignty, how much progress?"
• September 15, 2004, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "The deteriorating Iraqi security situation"
• June 22, 2004 , WBEZ (Chicago), "Odyssey," "Rethinking American Global Security"
• May 20, 2004, WBUR (Boston), "On Point," "U.S. Policy Towards Israel and Dreams of Democracy in the Middle East"
• March 22, 2004, WBEZ (Chicago), "Odyssey," "Terrorism in Europe"
• March 10, 2004 , Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "Iraqi leaders sign interim constitution"
• January 27, 2004, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "The United Nations' role in rebuilding Iraq"
• October 23, 2003, WBEZ (Chicago), "Odyssey," "Anti-Americanism and Iraq"
• September 22, 2003, Minnesota Public Radio, "Midday," "U.N. General Assembly to meet"
• September 19, 2003, WBUR (Boston) "On Point," "The Winding Case for War"
• March 31, 2003, WBUR (Boston) "On Point," "The Counterinsurgency Challenge"
• March 17, 2003, WBUR (Boston) "On Point," "The President's Ultimatum"
• January 30, 2003, WBUR (Boston) "On Point," "The War on Terror: The Other War?"