Bruce W. Jentleson, Professor of Public Policy and Political Science  

Office Location: 176 Rubenstein Hall
Office Phone: (919) 613-9208
Email Address: bwj7@duke.edu
Web Page:http://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/PublicPolicy/faculty/bwj

Areas of Expertise

  • International
    • Conflict Prevention and Peacekeeping
    • Globalization
    • Middle East
    • U.S. Foreign Policy
    • United Nations and International Institutions

Education:
PhD, Cornell University, 1983
American Political Science Association Harold D. Lasswell Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation in Policy Studies, 1985
M.Sc., London School of Economics and Political Science, 1975
B.A., Cornell University, 1973
Semester Program, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia, 1972

Research Categories: International Relations and American Foreign Policy

Research Description: My principal areas of research and writing continue to be on post-Cold War American foreign policy, international security and particularly issues of force and diplomacy. Recent work includes "America's Hard Sell," with Steven Weber published as the cover story in Foreign Policy (Nov/Dec 2008), and a coauthored policy paper, "Strategic Leadership: Framework for a 21st Century National Security Strategy," issued July 24, 2008 by the Phoenix Initiative.

Teaching (Fall 2009):

  • Pubpol 185.01, Globalization/public policy Synopsis
    Rubenstein 153, Tu 02:50 PM-05:20 PM
  • Pubpol 320.01, Globalization/governance
    Rubenstein 153, MW 02:50 PM-04:05 PM

Representative Publications   (More Publications)

  1. B.W. Jentleson. American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century. 3rd edition W.W. Norton, 2007.
  2. B.W. Jentleson. "America's Global Role After Bush." Survival (Autumn, 2007).
  3. B.W. Jentleson. "Who 'Won' Libya? The Force-Diplomacy Debate and Its Implications for Theory and Policy." International Security 30.3 (Winter, 2005-06). (with Christopher A. Whytock)

Curriculum Vitae

Highlight:

Bruce Jentleson is Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Duke University, where he served from 2000-2005 as Director, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy. In addition to his position at Duke, Jentleson currently serves as Senior Advisor to the U.S. State Department Policy Planning Director. He is a leading scholar on American foreign policy and has substantial policy experience.

Jentleson has published numerous articles and books, including American Foreign Policy: The Dynamics of Choice in the 21st Century, a leading university text (W.W. Norton, fourth edition, 2010). His recent work includes “America’s Hard Sell” with Steven Weber, Foreign Policy (Nov/Dec 2008 cover story); “America’s Global Role after Bush,” Survival (Autumn 2007); “Who ‘Won’ Libya: The Force-Diplomacy Debate and Its Implications for Theory and Policy” with Christopher A. Whytock, International Security (Winter 2005-06); and “Policy Planning: An Integrative Executive Branch Strategy,” in Avoiding Trivia: The Role of Strategic Planning in American Foreign Policy (Daniel W. Drezner, editor, 2009). His next books--- The New Age of Ideology: The 21st Century Global Competition of Ideas (with Steven Weber), Force and Diplomacy: Striking a Balance, and Profiles in Statesmanship --- are in the works.

In July 2009, Jentleson was sworn in as Senior Advisor to the U.S. State Department Policy Planning Director. During the 2008 presidential campaign, he was a member of the Phoenix Initiative and a co-author of Strategic Leadership: Framework for a 21st Century National Security Strategy. He was also on the Preventive Diplomacy Expert Advisory Group to the National Commission on Genocide Prevention and the Presidential Task Force on Preventing Regional Instability from Iran’s Nuclear Progress of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. In 1999-2000, he served as a senior foreign policy advisor to Vice President Al Gore and his presidential campaign. In 1993-94, he was on the State Department Policy Planning Staff as Special Assistant to the Director, with a broad range of policy responsibilities, including serving on the U.S. delegation to the Middle East Multilateral Arms Control and Regional Security Talks. He also served as a foreign affairs aide for Senator Dave Durenberger (1978-79) and Senator Al Gore (1987-88).

Prior to coming to Duke, Jentleson was Professor at the University of California-Davis and Director of the UC Davis Washington Center. He has held research appointments at the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Brookings Institution, Oxford University, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London), and as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in Spain. He has served as a consultant to the Carnegie Commission for Preventing Deadly Conflict, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Assembly, the Atlantic Council, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He has lectured internationally, including in Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, the Netherlands, Spain, South Korea and Switzerland. He is often quoted in the press and has appeared on such shows as ABC Nightline, the Lehrer News Hour, and BBC.

In 2009, Jentleson was the Program Co-Chair for the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Close Up Foundation and the Editorial Boards of International Studies Quarterly, Political Science Quarterly, and CIAO.

He holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University, and was recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Harold D. Lasswell Award for his doctoral dissertation; a Master's from the London School of Economics and Political Science; and a Bachelor’s degree also from Cornell.

Bruce W. Jentleson