Edward C. Luck (17 October 1948 - 16 February 2021) was an American professor, author, and expert in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

. He served as the

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-g ...

’s Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect between 2008 and 2012, appointed at the Assistant Secretary-General level. He was replaced by Jennifer Welsh of Canada. Previously he was Vice President of the

International Peace Institute The International Peace Institute (IPI, formerly the International Peace Academy) is an independent non-profit lobby group based in New York (beside the headquarters of the United Nations, with which IPI works closely). The institute has regional ...

as well as the director of the Center on International Organization of the

School of International and Public Affairs The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the international affairs and public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university located in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City. ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He also served as Dean of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego between 2012 and 2013. From 2015 to 2021 Luck was the Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He also served on the International Advisory Board of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.

Biography

Luck received his BA in international relations from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

. He earned his MA, MPh, and PhD in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

, as well as an MIA from Columbia's

and a Certificate of the Harriman Institute. From 1984 to 1994 Luck was the president and CEO of the

United Nations Association A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promot ...

of the USA (UNA-USA); he was president emeritus of that organization from 1994 to 1998). Between December 1995 and July 1997, Luck was a senior consultant to the Department of Administration and Management of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, and a staff director of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

's Open-Ended High-Level Working Group on the Strengthening of the United Nations System. Before joining the faculty at Columbia as Professor of Practice in International and Public Affairs, Luck founded and was executive director of the Center for the Study of International Organization, a research institute jointly established by the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...

and the

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

United Nations

On 21 February 2008 Luck was appointed Special Adviser at the Assistant Secretary-General level to the United Nations by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Luck was responsible for developing the three-pillar approach to the practical implementation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and was widely considered as one of the leading international scholars of the emerging norm. He also wrote and spoke widely about the "individual responsibility to protect" - the collective responsibility all human beings to take meaningful practical action to protect one another from genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Luck has testified before

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

on arms control, defense, foreign policy,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n and East Asian affairs, and

United Nations reform Since the late 1990s there have been many calls for reforms of the United Nations (UN). However, there is little clarity or consensus about what reform might mean in practice. Both those who want the UN to play a greater role in world affairs and ...

and peacekeeping. He has also published dozens of articles in '' Foreign Policy'', the ''

Washington Quarterly ''The Washington Quarterly'' (abbreviated as ''TWQ'') is a magazine of international affairs covering topics and issues concerning global security, diplomatic relations, and policy implications. Founded by prestigious think tank, Center for Strateg ...

'', ''

Current History ''Current History'' is the oldest extant United States-based publication devoted exclusively to contemporary world affairs. The magazine was founded in 1914 by George Washington Ochs Oakes, brother of ''The New York Times'' publisher Adolph Ochs ...

'', ''

Disarmament Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

'', '' International Herald Tribune'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'', and '' Newsday''.

Personal

Luck was married with one daughter. He died on 16 February 2021 at his home in Briarcliff Manor, New York.

Bibliography

Books

* (with Stuart Albert) * * * (with Michael W. Doyle) * *(with Alex J. Bellamy)

Monographs

* (with Toby Trister Gati and Çiḡdem A. Kurt) * (with Toby Trister Gati) * (with Gene M. Lyons) * * *

Book chapters

"Tackling Terrorism"
in ''The UN Security Council: from the Cold War to the 21st century'', David M. Malone, ed. Lynne Rienner Pub, 2004, pp. 85''ff''. .
"The Uninvited Challenge: Terrorism targets the United Nations"
in ''Multilateralism Under Challenge: Power, international order, and structural change'', Edward Newman, Ramesh Thakur, and John Tirman, eds. Tokyo: United Nations University and the Social Science Research Council, 2006, pp. 336–355. .
"A Council for All Seasons: The Creation of the Security Council and Its Relevance Today"
in ''The United Nations Security Council and War: The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945'', Vaughan Lowe, Adam Roberts, Jennifer Welsh and Dominik Zaum, eds. Oxford University press, May 2010, .

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luck, Edward American political scientists International relations scholars Columbia University faculty Dartmouth College alumni School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Living people 1948 births American chief executives Responsibility to protect American officials of the United Nations