James N. Rosenau (November 25, 1924 – September 9, 2011) was an American political scientist and international affairs scholar. He served as president of the International Studies Association from 1984 to 1985.

Life

His scholarship and teaching focused on the dynamics of world

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

and the overlap between domestic and foreign affairs. He was the author of scores of articles and more than 35 books, including ''Turbulence in World Politics: A Theory of Change and Continuity'' (

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, 1990) and ''Along the Domestic-Foreign Frontier: Exploring Governance in a Turbulent World'' (

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, 1997). His book ''Distant Proximities: Dynamics Beyond Globalization'' completed a trio on

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

, and was published by Princeton University Press in 2003. Rosenau was among the first to apply

Complexity Science A complex system is a system composed of many components which may interact with each other. Examples of complex systems are Earth's global climate, organisms, the human brain, infrastructure such as power grid, transportation or communication s ...

, an interdisciplinary system of analysis with origins in the hard sciences, to political science and international affairs. A November/December 2005 publication in ''Foreign Policy'' magazine listed Rosenau as among the most influential scholars in the field of International Affairs. Arriving at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Dornsife in 1973, Rosenau served as director of the USC School of International Relations from 1976 to 1979. He left

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Dornsife in 1992 and was appointed University Professor of International Affairs at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

in Washington, D.C. Rosenau then served as University Professor of International Affairs at the

's Elliott School of International Affairs until his death in 2011. He was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. His final book, "People Count! The Networked Individual in World Politics" was published in October 2007.

External links

Obituary in the USC NewsObituary in the GW Hatchet
1924 births 2011 deaths University of Southern California faculty Elliott School of International Affairs faculty George Washington University faculty American foreign policy writers American male non-fiction writers American political writers {{US-political-writer-stub