Peter Campbell

Education

Ph.D. Political Science, University of Notre Dame
M.A., War Studies, King’s College London, United Kingdom
B.A.H., Philosophy, University of Winnipeg, Canada

Peter Campbell is a scholar of international relations whose research focuses on international security, civil-military relations, strategy, insurgency and counterinsurgency, and cyberwarfare, among other issues.

Publications and Works in Progress

Book: Military Realism: The Logic and Limits of Force and Innovation in the US Army, University of Missouri Press, 2019.

Journal Article: Campbell, Peter, “From Soldier to Statesman: Ulysses S. Grant’s Military Realism in American Foreign Policy,” Diplomacy & Statecraft. Forthcoming.

Work in Progress: Book Manuscript, “Soldier Statesmen: Foreign Policy, Strategy, and the Lessons of War.” Book examines the impact of the military experience of George Washington, U.S. Grant, and Dwight Eisenhower on their foreign policy as president.

Journal Article: Campbell, Peter & Richard Jordan, “Forming the Grand Strategist According to Shakespeare,” Texas National Security Review, Vol 3, No. 1 (Winter 2019/2020), pp. 12–33.

Journal Article: Campbell, Peter & Michael J. Donahoo, “Harnessing the Power of the Cyber Defence,” Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, Vol. 66, No. 2 (March/April 2024), pp. 127-142.

Journal Article: “Generals in Cyberspace: Military Insights for Defending Cyberspace” Orbis: The Journal of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, Spring 2018.

Journal Article: “Military Realism and Doctrinal Innovation in Kennedy’s Army: A New Perspective on Military Innovation.” Journal of Global Security Studies, a peer-reviewed international security journal. In Press.

Journal Article: “Military Autonomy: Its Origins, Implications, and the Politico-Military Dialectic of War.” Defence Studies Vol. 19, No. 3 (Sept. 2019).

Public Lecture: “Statecraft and Cyberspace: Is the Best Cyber-Defense a Good Cyber-Offense?” 

Blog Post: Campbell, Peter, “The Army Innovates Better Than You Think: A Guide to Thinking About Multi-Domain Operations and Fighting Future Wars,” May 24, 2019. Blog post published online by the Modern War Institute at West Point Military Academy. https://mwi.usma.edu/army-innovates-better-think-guide-thinking-multi-domain-operations-fighting-future-wars/

Campbell, Peter and Desch, Michael C., “Rank Irrelevance: How Academia Lost its Way,” Foreign Affairs.com, Sept. 15, 2013, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139925/peter-campbell-and-michael-c-desch/rank-irrelevance. See data at http://www3.nd.edu/~carnrank/ . Authors took part in the roundtable “Carnegie Corporation of New York-Initiatives to Bridge the Academe/Policy Divide” at the ISA ISSS ISAC Joint Annual Conference 2013, Washington, D.C.

Assistant Project Manager, “Beyond the “Cult of the Irrelevant:” Next Steps for Reconnecting Academic Political Science and National Security Policymaking.” Research project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Principle Investigator: Dr. Michael Desch, University of Notre Dame. Assistant Project Managers: Dr. Paul Avey, Virginia Tech and Dr. Peter Campbell, Baylor University.

Courses at Baylor

PSC 3315 Fundamentals of International Politics
Theories of international politics will be examined and compared in the light of the evolution of the modern states system. Attention will be given to the factors and variables that affect the formulation and implementation of foreign policies.

PSC 3355 Causes of War
The causes of warfare as viewed through the lenses of human evolution, psychological approaches, economic system, ideology, and the international system.

PSC 4346 Intelligence and Covert Action
This course provides students with the ability to evaluate the impact of intelligence, counterespionage, and covert action policies on national security policy and international relations.

PSC 4316 Grand Strategy
Grand strategy defines the interests of a state, the threats to those interests, and the policies and military forces needed to minimize the danger posed by those threats. This course examines grand strategies of great powers to determine the relationship between a great power's grand strategy and stability in international politics.

PSC 5335 Seminar in National Security Decision Making
Analysis of the components of national security strategy and those international and domestic factors that shape it. Seminar covers the process, factors, institutions, and issues in national security decision making.

PSC 5355 Development of Strategic Thought
This seminar will examine the ideas of strategic thinkers who lived in a variety of historical periods. Students will read works by major strategists including Thucydides, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, and Clausewitz.

PSC 4v94 The Vietnam War through History, Film, and Literature

The Vietnam War raged for three decades, from 1945 to 1975. The war was fought in the broader context of the Cold War. This course examines the roots of the Vietnam War in WWII, French colonialism, and the Cold War. Through history, literature, and film it surveys both the broad political decisions that escalated and deescalated the war and the way in which the war was fought on the ground, between combatants, and among civilians. It is impossible to understand American foreign and national security policy, civil-military relations, or domestic politics today without appreciating the impact that the Vietnam War had on all of these aspects of American politics and society. Finally, the Vietnam War was an unconventional struggle that has many similarities to contemporary conflicts raging around the world, with analogous impacts on domestic and international politics.