Lieber, Keir A. 1970–

(Keir Alexander Lieber)

PERSONAL:

Born August 10, 1970. Education: University of Wisconsin—Madison, B.A., 1992; University of Chicago, M.A., 1996, Ph.D., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, 100 Hesburgh Center for International Studies, P.O. Box 639, Notre Dame, IN 46556. E-mail—klieber@nd.edu.

CAREER:

Slovak Technical University, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, visiting lecturer, 1990; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, DC, editorial assistant, Foreign Policy journal, 1993; Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington, DC, research assistant, 1993-94; University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, Department of Political Science, research assistant, 1995-96, teaching assistant, 1996-97, Program on International Security Policy Workshop coordinator, 1997-98; Georgetown University, Washington, DC, School of Foreign Service, Security Studies Program, visiting assistant professor, 2000-01; University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, assistant professor of political science, 2001—. At Notre Dame, also fellow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and Nanovic Institute for European Studies.

MEMBER:

American Political Science Association, International Studies Association, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Academy of Political Science.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Research grant, Smith Richardson Foundation, Program on International Security Policy, University of Chicago, 1997-98 and 1998; pre-dissertation research fellowship, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, 1997-98; research fellowship, Institute for the Study of World Politics, 1998; dissertation fellowships, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Council for Advanced Studies of Peace and International Cooperation, University of Chicago, 1998-99, and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, 1999-2000; Grodzins Prize Lectureship, Social Sciences Collegiate Division, University of Chicago, 1999-2000 (declined); residential research fellowship, Brookings Institution, Foreign Policy Studies Program, 1999-2000; faculty research grants, Graduate School Office of Research, University of Notre Dame, 2002 and 2004; summer research grant, Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, University of Notre Dame, 2003 and 2005; academic fellowship, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, 2003-04; fellowship research grant, Earhart Foundation, 2004-05; junior faculty research grant, Smith Richardson Foundation, 2006-07; International Affairs Fellowship, Council on Foreign Relations, 2007-08 (deferred).

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

War and the Engineers: The Primacy of Politics over Technology, Cornell University Press (Ithaca, NY), 2005.

Contributor to journals, including America, Ethics & International Affairs, Foreign Affairs, International Security, and Journal of Politics. Referee, American Political Science Review, International Security, Security Studies, and Naval War College Review.

SIDELIGHTS:

Keir A. Lieber, a professor in the political science department at Notre Dame University, is particularly interested in international relations, international conflict, and U.S. foreign policy, including the nation's policy on the development and use of nuclear weapons. He teaches both graduate and undergraduate classes on these topics. He has written numerous articles for scholarly and foreign policy journals and has lectured, presented papers, or served as a panelist at many conferences on international affairs. His first book, War and the Engineers: The Primacy of Politics over Technology, analyzes the role weapons play in causing war. He looks at offense-defense theory, which posits that when offensive military operations have technological superiority, the likelihood of war increases, but when defensive weapons are more advanced, it bodes well for peace. He finds this theory lacking, saying, among other things, that it is difficult to distinguish between offensive and defensive weapons and therefore to gauge nations' political intentions from their military capabilities. His case studies deal with railroads in Germany's nineteenth-century conflicts, small arms in World War I, armored vehicles in World War II, and the nuclear buildup of the Cold War era. He concludes that political considerations have a far greater effect than technology on nations' decisions about going to war.

Some critics found War and the Engineers compelling and convincing. Joseph A. Kechichian, writing in Perspectives on Political Science, praised Lieber as "brilliantly debunking contentions that technological innovations favor attackers who bet their success on advanced gear." In a similar vein, S. Mike Pavelec, a contributor to Military Review, remarked that the book "breaks new ground by openly criticizing and eventually refuting" offense-defense theory. Lawrence D. Freedman, a commentator for Foreign Affairs, also thought Lieber refuted the theory "correctly" and "comprehensively," but called his chapter on nuclear proliferation "rather convoluted."

Kechichian, however, considered Lieber's "painstaking interpretation of the nuclear revolution" to be the work's strongest feature. Kechichian noted that such technologies can give governments misplaced hope that wars will be brief and easy. Because of Lieber's analysis of this phenomenon, Kechichian said, War and the Engineers will make its audience "reflect on whether leaders … will be seduced by false hope." Pavelec added that the book is "well-written, well-argued, and concise," and he deemed its bibliography an excellent resource for further study. He concluded by giving the book his "highest recommendation," saying it will be especially useful to military officers and scholars of history and political science.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, May 1, 2006, J.H.P. Williams, review of War and the Engineers: The Primacy of Politics over Technology, p. 1676.

Foreign Affairs, May-June, 2006, Lawrence D. Freedman, review of War and the Engineers, p. 158.

Military Review, November-December, 2006, S. Mike Pavelec, review of War and the Engineers, p. 106.

Perspectives on Political Science, fall, 2007, Joseph A. Kechichian, review of War and the Engineers, p. 237.

ONLINE

University of Notre Dame, College of Arts and Letters Web site,http://al.nd.edu/ (June 17, 2008), brief biography.

University of Notre Dame, Kroc Institute Web site,http://kroc.nd.edu/ (June 17, 2008), brief biography.