Kennedy, Paul
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Paul Michael Kennedy (born 17 June 1945) is a British historian specialising in the history of
international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
, economic power and grand strategy. He is on the editorial board of numerous scholarly journals and writes for ''The New York Times'', ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'', and many foreign-language newspapers and magazines. His monthly column on current global issues is distributed worldwide by the
Tribune Content Agency Tribune Content Agency (TCA) is a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing. TCA had previously been known as the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS), Tribune Company Syndicate, and Tribune Media ...
. He has published on the history of British foreign policy and
great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...
struggles, emphasizing the changing economic power base that undergirds military and naval strength, noting how declining economic power leads to reduced military and diplomatic weight.


Life

Kennedy was born in
Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...
, Northumberland, and attended St. Cuthbert's Grammar School in
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
. Subsequently, he graduated with first-class honours in history from
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...
and obtained his doctorate from
St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics, politic ...
, under the supervision of A. J. P. Taylor and
John Andrew Gallagher John Andrew Gallagher (1 April 1919 – 5 March 1980), known as Jack Gallagher, was an historian of the British Empire who between 1963 and 1970 held the Beit Professorship of Commonwealth History at the University of Oxford and from 1971 until ...
. He was a member of the History Department at the
University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...
between 1970 and 1983. He is a Fellow of the
Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...
, a former visiting fellow of the
Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...
in
Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...
, and of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. In 2007–2008, Kennedy was the Phillipe Roman Professor of History and International Affairs at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. In 1983 he was named the J. Richardson Dilworth professor of British History at
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
. He is now also the Director of International Security Studies and along with
John Lewis Gaddis John Lewis Gaddis (born April 2, 1941) is an American Cold War historian, political scientist, and writer. He is the Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University. He is best known for his work on the Cold War and ...
and Charles Hill, teaches the Studies in Grand Strategy course there. In 2012, Professor Kennedy began teaching a course at Yale entitled "Military History of the West Since 1500", elaborating on his presentation of military history as inextricably intertwined with economic power and technological progress. His most well known book, ''
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers ''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000'', by Paul Kennedy, first published in 1987, explores the politics and economics of the Great Powers from 1500 to 1980 and the reason for their dec ...
'', assesses the interaction between economics and strategy over the past five centuries. The book was very well received by fellow historians, with A. J. P. Taylor labelling it "an encyclopaedia in itself" and
Sir Michael Howard Sir Michael Eliot Howard (29 November 1922 – 30 November 2019) was an English military historian, formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, Honorary Fellow of All Souls College, Regius Professor of Modern History at the University ...
crediting it as "a deeply humane book in the very best sense of the word". It has been translated into 23 languages. In his 2006 book ''
The Parliament of Man ''The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations'' is a book by Paul Kennedy that covers the history and evolution of the United Nations. The book's title is taken from Locksley Hall, a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson ...
'', Kennedy contemplates the past and future of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
. In 2010 he delivered the first
Lucy Houston Dame Fanny Lucy Houston, Lady Houston, (' Radmall; 8 April 1857 – 29 December 1936) was a British philanthropist, fascist sympathizer, political activist and suffragist. Beginning in 1933, she published the '' Saturday Review'', which made ...
Lecture in Cambridge on the subject of "Innovation and Industrial Regeneration".


Honours

Kennedy was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1989 and the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 1991. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 and elected a Fellow of the
British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
in 2003. The
National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...
awarded him its
Caird Medal The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...
in 2005 for his contributions to naval history. Kennedy was named the
US Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associ ...
's Hattendorf Prize Laureate for 2014.


Interpretations


''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers''

In ''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers'' (1987), Kennedy argues that economic strength and military power have been highly correlated in the rise and fall of major nations since 1500. He shows that expanding strategic commitments lead to increases in military expenditures that eventually overburden a country's economic base, and cause its long-term decline. His book reached a wide audience of policy makers when it suggested that the United States and the Soviet Union were presently experiencing the same historical dynamics that previously affected Spain, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, and Germany, and that the United States must come to grips with its own "imperial overstretch". However, the Cold War ended two years after Kennedy's book appeared, validating his thesis regarding the Soviet Union, but leaving the United States as the sole superpower and, apparently, at the peak of its economy. In the text, Kennedy predicted the rise of China, noting that it was undergoing
economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...
which could transform the country in decades and that it was "only a matter of time" before China became a
great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...
. Nau (2001) contends that Kennedy's realist model of international politics underestimates the power of national, domestic identities or the possibility of the ending of the Cold War and the growing convergence of democracy and markets resulting from the democratic peace that followed.


World War I

In explaining why neutral Britain went to war with Germany, Kennedy (1980) recognised it was critical for war that Germany became economically more powerful than Britain, but he downplays the disputes over economic trade imperialism, the
Baghdad Railway Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, confrontations in Eastern Europe, high-charged political rhetoric and domestic pressure-groups. Germany's reliance time and again on sheer power, while Britain increasingly appealed to moral sensibilities, played a role, especially in seeing the invasion of Belgium as a necessary military tactic or a profound moral crime. The German invasion of neutral Belgium was not important because the British decision had already been made and the British were more concerned with the fate of France (pp. 457–62). Kennedy argues that by far the main reason was London's fear that a repeat of 1870, when Prussia and the German states smashed France, would mean that Germany, with a powerful army and navy, would control the
English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
and northwest France. British policy-makers insisted that that would be a catastrophe for British security.


Notable students

*
Geoffrey Wawro Geoffrey Wawro (born 1960) is an American professor of military history at the University of North Texas, and director of the UNT Military History Center. His focus is modern and contemporary military history, from the French Revolution to the pres ...
(
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
1992) * Richard Drayton (PhD 1999) *
Fareed Zakaria Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (; born January 20, 1964) is an Indian-born American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's '' Fareed Zakaria GPS'' and writes a weekly paid column for ''The Washington Post.'' He has been a c ...
( BA 1986) *
Frederick Kagan Frederick W. Kagan (born 1970) is an American resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and a former professor of military history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Career He and his father, Donald Kagan, who wa ...
(
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
1995)


Bibliography

* ''Planning for War at Sea: 400 years of Great Power Competition'', edited by
Evan Wilson Evan is a Welsh masculine given name, derived from ''Iefan'', a Welsh form of the name John. Similar names that share this origin include Euan, Ivan, Ian, and Juan. "John" itself is derived from the ancient Hebrew name (romanised: Yəhôḥān ...
and Paul Kennedy. (2025) *'' Victory at Sea: Naval Power and the Transformation of the Global Order in World War II'' (2022) *'' Navies in Multipolar Worlds: From the Age of Sail to the Present,'' edited by Paul Kennedy and
Evan Wilson Evan is a Welsh masculine given name, derived from ''Iefan'', a Welsh form of the name John. Similar names that share this origin include Euan, Ivan, Ian, and Juan. "John" itself is derived from the ancient Hebrew name (romanised: Yəhôḥān ...
. (2020) *
Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War
' (2013) *''
The Parliament of Man ''The Parliament of Man: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations'' is a book by Paul Kennedy that covers the history and evolution of the United Nations. The book's title is taken from Locksley Hall, a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson ...
: The Past, Present, and Future of the United Nations'' (2006) *
From War to Peace: Altered Strategic Landscapes in the Twentieth Century co-editor
' (2000) *
Preparing for the Twenty-first Century
' (1993) *
Grand Strategies in War and Peace
' (editor) (1991) *''The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism, 1860–1914'' (2nd edn. 1988) *''
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers ''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000'', by Paul Kennedy, first published in 1987, explores the politics and economics of the Great Powers from 1500 to 1980 and the reason for their dec ...
: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000'' (1987) *''The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery'' (1986) (2nd edn. 2006) *
The First World War and the International Power System (1984)
' *
Strategy and Diplomacy 1870–1945
' (1983) *
The Realities Behind Diplomacy: Background Influences on British External Policy 1865–1980 (1981)
' *
The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism 1860–1914
' (1980) *
Germany in the Pacific and Far East, 1870-1914 co-editor
' (1977) *
The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery
' (1976, paperback reissue 2001, 2004) *
The Samoan Tangle: A Study in Anglo-German-American Relations 1878–1900
' (1974) *''Conquest: The Pacific War 1943–45'' (1973) *
Pacific Onslaught 1941–43
' (1972)


Further reading

* Nau, Henry R. "Why 'The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers' was wrong", ''
Review of International Studies The ''Review of International Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal on international relations published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British International Studies Association. From 1975 to 1980, it was known as the '' ...
'', October 2001, Vol. 27, Issue 4, pp. 579–592. * Eugene L. Rasor, ''British Naval History since 1815: A Guide to the Literature''. New York: Garland, 1990, pp. 41–54. * Patrick D. Reagan, "Strategy and History: Paul Kennedy's The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers", ''
Journal of Military History ''The Journal of Military History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the military history of all times and places. It is the official journal of the Society for Military History. The journal was established in 1937 and the e ...
'', July 89, Vol. 53#3, pp. 291–30
in JSTOR


References


External links

*

2002 ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' article {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Paul 1945 births Living people Academics of the University of East Anglia Alumni of Newcastle University Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs Corresponding fellows of the British Academy English male non-fiction writers English naval historians Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Members of the American Philosophical Society People educated at St. Cuthbert's School People from Wallsend Political realists Theoretical historians Theorists on Western civilization Yale University faculty