home > the cfr think tank > experts > max boot
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies
Contact Info:
Phone: +1.212.434.9619
E-mail: mboot@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo (JPG, 2.8 MB)
One-page bio (PDF, 64K)
Award-winning author and former editorial editor for The Wall Street Journal. Author of War Made New:Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today. Currently writing a history of guerrilla warfare.
Expertise:Defense policy; defense budget; proliferation; nation-building and peacekeeping; democracy and human rights; U.S. grand strategy; national security; military technology; military history; U.S. foreign policy; terrorism and guerilla warfare; terrorism; media.
Experience:Contributing editor, Weekly Standard (current); Editorial Features Editor, Wall Street Journal (1997-2002); writer and editor, Wall Street Journal (1994-97); writer and editor, Christian Science Monitor (1992-94).
Honors:Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Journalism (2007); named one of “the 500 most influential people in the United States in the field of foreign policy,” World Affairs Councils of America (2004); Wallace M. Greene Award for best nonfiction book on the Marine Corps (2003); Savage Wars of Peace selected as one of the best books by the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Christian Science Monitor (2002); two-time finalist, Gerald A. Loeb Award for Business Journalism.
Selected Publications:War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today (Gotham Books, 2006); The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power (Basic Books, 2002); Out of Order: Arrogance, Corruption and Incompetence on the Bench (Basic Books, 1998); contributes regularly to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Financial Times, Times, Weekly Standard, and other publications.
"America should be the world's policeman," Intelligence Squared US debate (transcript available; February 12, 2008)
Related Links:
Max Boot on CommentaryMagazine.com (blog)
Current Research Projects
June 17, 2009
Op-Ed
Wall Street Journal
Max Boot writes in favor of Gen. McChrystal's decision to set up a Pakistan Afghanistan Coordination Cell.
See more in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Wars and Warfare, Society and Culture
June 5, 2009
Article
New York Times
Max Boot reviews Masters and Commanders, by Andrew Roberts.
See more in Europe/Russia, Wars and Warfare
May 22, 2009
Op-Ed
National Review
Max Boot argues, "on the whole, President Obama is formulating sensible, centrist national-security policies."
See more in Defense/Homeland Security, Human Rights, Counterterrorism, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 13, 2009
Op-Ed
Los Angeles Times
Max Boot argues that "President Obama and his aides continue to impress with their handling of Afghanistan."
See more in Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 6, 2009
Article
Foreign Affairs
Max Boot provides an annotated Foreign Affairs syllabus on pirates.
April 29, 2009
Op-Ed
Commentary
Max Boot discusses President Obama's first 100 days.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency
May - June 2009
Op-Ed
American Interest
Max Boot discusses the stigmatization--and necessity--of mercenaries.
See more in National Security and Defense, Wars and Warfare
April 8, 2009
Op-Ed
Commentary
Max Boot discusses Defense Secretary Robert Gates's proposed defense agenda.
See more in Defense Policy & Budget, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
March 27, 2009
Op-Ed
Commentary
Max Boot argues that regardless of the political rhetoric involved, President Obama's strategy for Afghanistan is solid, centrist foreign policy.
See more in Afghanistan, Havens for Terrorism, U.S. Strategy and Politics
March 19, 2009
Op-Ed
Los Angeles Times
Max Boot argues that the Obama administration's desire to reach a deal with Syria or Iran should not compromise a flourishing Lebanon's independence.
See more in Middle East, Lebanon, U.S. Strategy and Politics
March 23, 2009; Volume 014, Issue 26
Article
Weekly Standard
After visiting Afghanistan at the invitation of General David Petraeus, Max Boot, Frederick Kagan, and Kimberly Kagan discuss their observations of the conflict in the region and contend that while there is cause for concern, the situation is likely to improve.
See more in Afghanistan, Defense Strategy, Havens for Terrorism
March 14, 2009
Article
Wall Street Journal
Max Boot reviews The Accidental Guerilla, by David Kilcullen.
See more in Defense Strategy, Counterterrorism, Havens for Terrorism
March 13, 2009
Op-Ed
New York Times
Max Boot, Frederick Kagan, and Kimberly Kagan argue that more needs to be done in Afghanistan to develop a comprehensive counterinsurgency plan.
See more in Afghanistan, Defense Strategy, Havens for Terrorism
February 19, 2009
Op-Ed
Commentary
Max Boot warns that many prominent arguments regarding the situation in Afghanistan "lead us in precisely the wrong direction."
See more in Afghanistan, Defense Strategy, Havens for Terrorism
February 13, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Max Boot compares the U.S. decision to back the overthrow of South Vietnam president Ngo Dihn Diem in 1963 to signals from U.S. senior officials that they want to replace Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
See more in United States, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Wars and Warfare
February 7, 2009
Op-Ed
Los Angeles Times
Max Boot compares the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
See more in Afghanistan, Iraq, Defense Strategy
Volume 014, Issue 19
Op-Ed
Weekly Standard
Max Boot looks at whether Israel's recent incursion into Gaza was successful.
See more in Middle East, Wars and Warfare
January 27, 2009
Op-Ed
Financial Times
Max Boot argues that focus should be placed on preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons rather than anticipating and preparing for a nuclear Iran in the near future.
See more in Middle East, Iran, Arms Control and Disarmament
January 8, 2009
Article
Foreign Policy
Max Boot writes, "the Iraq war was the first step toward making good on what became known as the Bush doctrine. Yet the very messiness of that intervention served as a warning of the costs of preemption."
See more in Wars and Warfare, Terrorism, U.S. Strategy and Politics
Volume 014, Issue 16
Op-Ed
Weekly Standard
Max Boot and Richard Bennet look at the success of "low-intensity" U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in the Philippines.
See more in Philippines, Counterterrorism, U.S. Strategy and Politics
Explore international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
The Canadian oil sands present an important challenge to policymakers: they promise energy security benefits but present climate change problems. Michael A. Levi assesses the energy security and climate change effects of the oil sands and makes recommendations for U.S. policymakers within the context of broader bilateral relations with Canada.
This report explores an important element of the maritime policy regime: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Author Scott G. Borgerson examines the international negotiations that led to the convention, the history of debates in the United States over whether to join it, and the strategic importance of the oceans for U.S. foreign policy today.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
In War of Necessity, War of Choice, Richard N. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped the conduct of two wars between the United States and Iraq involving the two presidents Bush and Saddam Hussein, and writes an authoritative, personal account of how U.S. foreign policy is made, what it should seek, and how it should be pursued.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba’s unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
As Ray Takeyh shows in Guardians of the Revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans of Iran is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
Complete list of CFR Books
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
