Peter D. Feaver, Professor and Bass Fellow

Contact Info:

Teaching (Fall 2024):

• POLSCI 497S-3.01, SENIOR SEMINAR IN SPC Synopsis

  Gross Hall 104, W 03:05 PM-05:35 PM

• POLSCI 562S.01, AMERICAN GRAND STRATEGY Synopsis

  Gross Hall 111, Tu 10:05 AM-12:35 PM

• POLSCI 365D.001, FOREIGN POLICY OF THE US Synopsis

  Social Sciences 136, MW 10:20 AM-11:10 AM

• POLSCI 365D.01D, FOREIGN POLICY OF THE US Synopsis

  Physics 227, F 10:20 AM-11:10 AM

• POLSCI 365D.02D, FOREIGN POLICY OF THE US Synopsis

  Physics 205, F 12:00 PM-12:50 PM

• POLSCI 365D.03D, FOREIGN POLICY OF THE US Synopsis

  Gross Hall 104, Th 10:20 AM-11:10 AM

• POLSCI 365D.04D, FOREIGN POLICY OF THE US Synopsis

  Gross Hall 105, Th 12:00 PM-12:50 PM

Office Hours:

Monday 9:00-10:00,
Wednesday 10:00-11:00 & by appointment

Education:

Ph.D., Harvard University, 1990

A.M., Harvard University, 1986

B.A., Lehigh University, 1983

Specialties:

International Relations
Security, Peace, & Conflict

Research Interests: Security Studies, Civil-Military Relations and Nuclear Weapons

Peter D. Feaver (Ph.D., Harvard, 1990) is a Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University. He is Director of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies (TISS) and also Director of the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy (AGS). From June 2005 to July 2007, Feaver was on leave to be Special Advisor for Strategic Planning and Institutional Reform on the National Security Council Staff at the White House where his responsibilities included the national security strategy, regional strategy reviews, and other political-military issues. Feaver is author of Armed Servants: Agency, Oversight, and Civil-Military Relations (Harvard Press, 2003) and of Guarding the Guardians: Civilian Control of Nuclear Weapons in the United States (Cornell University Press, 1992). He is co-author, with Christopher Gelpi and Jason Reifler, of Paying the Human Costs of War (Princeton University Press, 2009), co-author, with Susan Wasiolek and Anne Crossman, of Getting the Most Out of College (Ten Speed Press, 2008), and co-author, with Christopher Gelpi, of Choosing Your Battles: American Civil-Military Relations and the Use of Force (Princeton University Press, 2004). He is co-editor, with Richard H. Kohn, of Soldiers and Civilians: The Civil-Military Gap and American National Security (MIT Press, 2001). He has published numerous other monographs, scholarly articles, book chapters, and policy pieces on American foreign policy, public opinion, nuclear proliferation, civil-military relations, information warfare, and U.S. national security. He is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and blogs at shadow.foreignpolicy.com. In 1993-94, Feaver served as Director for Defense Policy and Arms Control on the National Security Council at the White House where his responsibilities included the national security strategy review, counterproliferation policy, regional nuclear arms control, and other defense policy issues.

Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Urben, HA, Book Review: Thanks for your service: The causes and consequences of public confidence in the U.S. military by Feaver, P. D., Armed Forces & Society, vol. 51 no. 1 (January, 2025), pp. 390-393, SAGE Publications [doi] .
2. Feaver, PD, Right or Wrong? The Civil–Military Problematique and Armed Forces & Society’s 50th, Armed Forces and Society (January, 2024) [doi]  [abs].
3. Feaver, PD, Thanks for your service: The causes and consequences of public confidence in the US military (July, 2023), pp. 1-310 [doi]  [abs].
4. Feaver, P, What Not to Worry About in the Policy–Academy Gap Debate: A Contrarian Take, Armed Forces and Society, vol. 49 no. 1 (January, 2023), pp. 20-25 [doi]  [abs].
5. Brands, H; Feaver, P, Getting grand strategy right, in The Oxford Handbook of Grand Strategy (September, 2021), pp. 559-574 [doi] .