Thomas J. Christensen is an American political scientist. He is the
James T. Shotwell
James Thomson Shotwell
(August 6, 1874 – July 15, 1965) was a Canadian-born American history professor. He played an instrumental role in the creation of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1919, as well as for his influence in promo ...
Professor of International Relations at the
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) is the List of schools of international relations in the United States, international affairs and public policy school, public policy school of Columbia University, a pri ...
.
Biography
Christensen received his B.A. with honors from
Haverford College
Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...
, M.A. in International Relations from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, and Ph.D. in political science from
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 ...
.
Among his advisers at Columbia was
Robert Jervis
Robert Jervis (April 30, 1940 – December 9, 2021) was an American political scientist who was the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University. Jervis was co-editor of the ...
. His research interests include international relations, security, and the international relations of East Asia.
He coined the terms
Chain ganging
Chain ganging is a term in the field of international relations describing the elevated probability for interstate conflict or conflagration due to several states having joined in alliances or coalitions.
The agreed principles of such alliances ty ...
and
Buck passing
Buck passing, or passing the buck, or sometimes (playing) the blame game, is the act of attributing to another person or group one's own responsibility. It is often used to refer to a strategy in power politics whereby a state tries to get anothe ...
in international relations with
Jack Snyder.
From 2006 to 2008, he also served as Deputy
.
Christensen taught at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
,
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
, where he co-founded the China in the World program with Harvard professor
Alastair Ian Johnston in 2004. He was the William P. Boswell Professor of World Politics of Peace and War at Princeton before joining the Columbia faculty in fall 2018. He also sits on the faculty of the
Weatherhead East Asian Institute
The Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI) at Columbia University is a community of scholars affiliated with Columbia's schools, bringing together over 50 full-time faculty, a diverse group of visiting scholars and professionals, and students from ...
at Columbia.
He has been described as a China expert by numerous Chinese and American publications.
Gideon Rose
Gideon Rose is a former editor of ''Foreign Affairs'' and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as Associate Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs on the staff of the National Security Council from 1994 to 1995 under the ...
called his views on the international system as neorealist.
Christensen served as a founding member of the Academic Advisory Council of the
Schwarzman Scholars
Schwarzman Scholars (), founded by American financier Stephen A. Schwarzman, is an international postgraduate award program for students to study at Tsinghua University. Awards are made to 100–200 applicants per year, worldwide. The program s ...
program. He was also a silver medalist of the 2016
Arthur Ross Book Award
The Arthur Ross Book Award is a politics-related literary award.
History and administration
It was endowed in 2001 by Arthur Ross, an American businessman and philanthropist, for the purpose of recognizing books that make an outstanding cont ...
from the Council on Foreign Relations.
In 2020, Christensen, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Thomas J.
Living people
Haverford College alumni
University of Pennsylvania alumni
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Cornell University faculty
Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty
Princeton University faculty
Columbia University faculty
American political scientists
American academic administrators
Year of birth missing (living people)
Weatherhead East Asian Institute faculty
Columbia School of International and Public Affairs faculty