Barbara Walter

I’m a first-gen kid of immigrants - I grew up in Yonkers, New York in a family obsessed with politics. My parents were desperate for me to go into business so that I could help pay the bills. To their great initial disappointment, I chose academia. I now study civil wars, violent extremism, and domestic terror. My most recent book How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them was named the best book of the year by The Times of London, and one of the best of the year by the Financial Times, Esquire, and Prospect Magazine. The New York Times put it on their bestseller list and called it “Required reading for anyone invested in preserving our 246-year experiment in self-government.” I care a lot about peace and about challenging misconceptions so I’m especially happy about these awards. I received the 2022 Peacemaker of the Year Award given by the National Conflict Resolution Center, and the International Studies Assoc.’s highest career award to “the person whose intellect, assertiveness, and insight most challenge conventional wisdom and intellectual and organizational complacency in the international studies community.” I’m also a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations. I’m a frequent contributor on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, the BBC, and the PBSNewsHour and I’ve written for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times, Time, and others. I am currently a professor at the University of California, San Diego. I received my MA and PhD at the University of Chicago, and did post docs at Harvard and Columbia. When not working, I love to paint and draw and do anything with art. I have a tendency to stick post it notes all over my house, and to cook with exuberance. I have a goofy side that’s been terribly neglected. I wish I danced more.

Ending violence. Going incognito in conflict zones. Silent observation. Curiosity. Challenging conventional wisdom. Hiking, skiing, running. Pizza.

Healthy democracies are even more important than people think.

Poker.