Jon Western

 

International Relations Program

Mount Holyoke College

South Hadley, MA 01075

(413) 538-2659

 

 

EDUCATION

 

2000                       Ph.D., Political Science, Columbia University

1988                       M.P.P., Institute of Public Policy Studies, The University of Michigan

1988                       Certificate, Summer Institute for Comparative and International Law in Russia and Poland

1984                       B.A., Majors in Political Science and Russian Area Studies, Macalester College

 

Dissertation:

 

                "Warring Ideas:  Explaining U.S. Military Intervention in Regional and Civil Conflicts "

                Advisors:  Robert Jervis and Jack Snyder

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

 

Five College Associate Professor of International Relations, Mount Holyoke Colleges and the Five Colleges Inc., (July 2006– present)

                Teach courses on international relations theory and practice, international security, human rights, and American foreign policy

 

Five College Assistant Professor of International Relations, Mount Holyoke Colleges and the Five Colleges Inc., (July 2000 – 2006)

               

Project Coordinator, Datyon Upgrade Project, United States Institute of Peace, (2000)

                Coordinated  and co-authored a study on U.S. and international policy in Bosnia since 1995.

 

Adjunct Assistant Professor, George Washington University (2000)

                Taught graduate and undergraduate courses on International Organizations.

 

Human Rights Consultant,  (1998 - 1999)

                Developed technical strategies for a coalition of human rights organizations to detect and collect evidence of war crimes committed in Kosovo. 

 

Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellow, (Resident Fellow) United States Institute of Peace (1998 - 1999)

 

Andrew Wellington Cordier Teaching Fellow, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University (Spring 1996 - Spring 1998)

               

Country Analyst for Bosnia, Croatia, and Poland, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research (1990 - 1993)

                Provided senior State Department and White House officials with written analyses and oral briefings on political, economic, and military developments in the former Yugoslavia and Poland.  Initiated and managed U.S. inter-agency task force on collection of evidence of crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia.  Principal drafter of 1992 National Intelligence Estimate for Poland and 1993 National Intelligence Estimate for Croatia.

 

Presidential Management Intern, Washington, DC (two rotational assignments)

 

                East European Analyst, Congressional Research Service, (1989 - 1990)

 

                Program Analyst, U.S. Department of the Army, Program Analysis and Evaluation (1989)

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Books: 

 

Jon Western, Selling Intervention and War: The Presidency, the Media, and the American Public (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005)

 

Articles and Book Chapters: 

 

Jon Western, "American Security and the Limits of the Bush Doctrine," in David P. Forsythe, Patrice McMahon, and Andrew Wedeman, eds., American Foreign Policy in a Globalized World, (New York: Routledge, 2006)

 

Jon Western, "The Illusions of Moral Hazard: A Conceptual and Empirical Critique," Ethnopolitics, Vol. 4, no. 2, (June 2005) republished in Alan Kuperman and Timothy Crawford, eds., Gambling on Humanitarian Intervention: Moral Hazard, Rebellion and Civil War (Routledge, 2006)

 

Jon Western, "The War over Iraq: Selling War to the American Public," Security Studies, Vol. 14, no. 1 (January-February, 2005)

 

Jon Western, "The Bush Doctrine and the Transformation of Humanitarian Intervention," Global Dialogue, Vol. 7, no. 1, (Winter 2005)

 

Jon Western, “Doctrinal Divisions:  The Politics of U.S. Military Interventions,” Harvard International Review, Vol. 29, no 1, (Spring 2004)

 

Jon Western, “U.S. Policy and Human Rights in Bosnia: the Transformation of Strategic Interests,” in Debra Liang Fenton, ed., Implementing U.S. Human Rights Policy:  Agendas, Policies, and Practices (Washington, DC:  United States Institute of Peace Press, 2004)

 

Jon Western, “The Intervention in Somalia,” in Eugene R. Wittkopf and James M. McCormick, eds, Domestic Sources of Foreign American Policy:  Insights and Evidence, 4th Edition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003)

 

Jon Western, “Sources of Humanitarian Intervention: Beliefs, Information, and Advocacy in U.S. Decisions on Somalia and Bosnia,” International Security, Vol. 26, no. 4 (Spring, 2002)

 

Jon Western and Daniel Serwer, “Bosnia’s Next Five Years:  Dayton and Beyond,” United States Institute of Peace, Special Report (Washington, DC), November 2000; translated and reprinted as Jon Western and Daniel Serwer, “Los proximos cinco anos de Bosnia:  mas alla de Dayton,” en Politicas Mundiales, Tendencias Peligrosas, Anuaria CIP 2001,” (Madrid:  Centro de Investgacion para la Paz, 2001)

 

Marshall F. Harris, Stephen Walker, Jon Western, et.al.,  Balkan Policy Review:  Implementation of the Dayton Accords and Prospects for the Post-IFOR Balkans (Washington, DC:  The Balkan Institute, September, 1996)

 

Jon Western, "Yugoslavia:  Crisis in the Federation,"  Report to Congress, Congressional Research Service, July 1990

 

Jon Western, "East European Prospects," Report to Congress, Congressional Research Service, March 1990

 

Francis Miko and Jon Western, "East European Assistance," Report to Congress, Congressional Research Service, March 1990

 

Book Reviews:

 

"The Rights of Refugees Under International Law," by James C. Hathaway (Cambridge: 2006) reviewed for Human Rights Quarterly (forthcoming, 2007)

 

“Peace With Justice? War Crimes and Accountability in the Former Yugoslavia,” by Paul R. Williams and Michael P. Scharf (New York:  Rowman and Littlefield, 2002) reviewed for International Affairs, Vol. 79, no. 4 (July 2003)

 

“Keeping the Peace:  Lasting Solutions to Ethnic Conflict,” by Daniel L. Byman; “The Price of Indifference:  Refugees and Humanitarian Action in the New Century,” by Arthur C. Helton; and, “Intervention for Human Rights in Europe,” by Janne Haaland Matlary, reviewed for International Affairs, Vol. 79, no. 1 (January 2003)

 

“Rocket’s Red Glare:  Missile Defenses and the Future of World Politics,” edited by James J. Wirth and Jeffrey A. Larsen, reviewed for Political Science Quarterly  Vol. 117, no. 2 (Summer 2002)

 

“The Tragedy of Great Power Politics,” by John Mearsheimer, reviewed for The Chicago Tribune Book Section (Dec. 16, 2001)

 

“Kosovo:  How Myths and Truths Started a War,” by Julie Mertus, reviewed for Political Science Quarterly (Winter 2000-2001)

 

“Live, Direct and Biased?  Making Television News in the Satellite Age," by Brent MacGregor, reviewed for Journal of International Affairs, Spring 1998, Vol. 51, no. 2

 

 

 

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

 

  • Chair, Five College International Relations Program, present
  • Chair, International Relations Section, New England Political Science Association annual conference, 2007
  • Coordinator, Five College International Relations Faculty Seminar
  • Editorial Board, New England Political Science Review
  • Reviewer:  International Security, Security Studies, Global Governance, Political Science Quarterly, International Studies Quarterly, International Affairs, The Historian,  Routledge Press, W. W. Norton, United States Institute of Peace Jennings Randolph Program for International Peace

 

HONORS AND ACADEMIC DISTINCTIONS

 

  • Recipient, Mount Holyoke College Innovation Fund Grant, 2005
  • Recipient, Mount Holyoke College Faculty Research Prize, 2003-2004
  • Recipient, Mount Holyoke College Faculty Grant, 2002, 2003, and 2004
  • Nominated for Bancroft Award  for Outstanding Dissertation in History, Political Science and International Relations, Columbia University, 2000
  • United States Institute of Peace, Peace Scholar Dissertation Fellowship, 1998 - 1999
  • Andrew Wellington Cordier Teaching Fellow, Spring 1996 to Spring 1998
  • Columbia University President's Fellow, 1993 – 2000
  • Superior Honor Award for Outstanding Analysis on the Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia, U.S. Department of State, 1992 and 1993
  • Meritorious Honor Award for Outstanding Polish Analysis, U.S. Department of State, 1992
  • Special Achievement Award, Congressional Research Service, 1990
  • U.S. Presidential Management Intern, 1989 – 1990.