Published 19 September, 2021

Michael C. Horowitz is Director of the Perry World House and Richard Perry Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Diffusion of Military Power: Causes and Consequences for International Politics (Princeton University Press, 2010) and Why Leaders Fight (Cambridge University Press, 2015). He won the 2017 Karl Deutsch Award given by the International Studies Association for early career contributions to the fields of international relations and peace research. He has published in a wide array of peer reviewed journals and popular outlets. His research interests include the intersection of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics with global politics, military innovation, the role of leaders in international politics, and geopolitical forecasting methodology. Professor Horowitz previously worked for the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy in the Department of Defense. He is affiliated with the Center for a New American Security, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Professor Horowitz received his Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University and his B.A. in political science from Emory University.  Recorded 7 April, 2021.

Show Notes

01: 17 MCH on how the invasion of Iraq kicked off renewed academic interest in international relations

04:24 MCH on how invasion is easy compared to rebuilding a nation

08:02 MCH on the challenge in matching national interest to what the American people will support

10:39 MCH on weighing the need to pull out troops against the risk of a place like Afghanistan becoming a haven for terrorist groups.

12:24 MCH on the tension between the political administration and career civil servants in US foreign policy

14:36 MCH on how new administrations change their policy positions once they come into power because of access to better information

18:54 MCH on bipartisan agreement on the need for a pivot to the Indo-Pacific that was more than merely symbolic

26:05 MCH on the partisanship that characterized the debate around the JCPO/ Iran nuclear deal

38:20 MCH on the Abraham Accords

42:39 MCH on the need for free societies to work together

45:08 MCH on the role of advancements in technology in ensuring the United States’ continued dominance

48:31 MCH on the role of a space mission in military strategy

52:28 MCH on why he continues to be pro-democracy and pro- the United States

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