John Mueller holds the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies, Mershon Center, and is professor of Political Science, at Ohio State University where he teaches courses in international relations.
He is currently working on terrorism and
particularly
on the reactions (or over-reactions) it often inspires. His
most
recent
book, Atomic Obsession:
Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al Qaeda, published in
November 2009 by Oxford University Press, suggests
that atomic terrorism is highly
unlikely and that efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation frequently
have damaging results. Information
about this book. He has also
written Overblown: How Politicians and the
Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We
Believe Them, published in 2006 by Free Press. The New York Times called the book
"important" and "accurate, timely, and necessary." Information
about
this
book. (amazon.com is currently
selling both books for a substantial discount.) His next book project, Terrorism, Security, and Money:
Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security,
written in collaboration with engineer and risk analyst Mark Stewart,
applies cost-benefit analysis to issues of homeland security.
Mueller is the author of a multiple-prize-winning book analyzing public opinion during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, War, Presidents and Public Opinion (Wiley, 1973) ("a classic" according to the American Political Science Review) and of Retreat from Doomsday: The Obsolescence of Major War (Basic Books, 1989) which deals with changing attitudes toward war. In a front page review of this latter book in the Sunday book section of the Washington Post, McGeorge Bundy commented, "Mueller makes you think, and his method of argument combines fresh insights with trenchant prose in a way that makes thoughtful reading agreeable." Mueller has also published Policy and Opinion in the Gulf War (University of Chicago Press, 1994) and Quiet Cataclysm: Reflections on the Recent Transformation of World Politics (HarperCollins, 1995). His Capitalism, Democracy, and Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery was published in 1999 by Princeton University Press. In his review in The Weekly Standard, David J. Silver writes, "Mueller's provocative book deserves a wide audience. . . . Mueller writes sharp, brisk, and witty prose that is unfailingly lucid." Mueller's book about international and civil wars, The Remnants of War, was published by Cornell University Press in 2004. Writing in The New Republic, Gregg Easterbrook called it "brilliantly original and urgent." It was awarded the Lepgold Prize from Georgetown University for the best book on international relations in 2004. Retreat from Doomsday, Quiet Cataclysm, and War, Presidents and Public Opinion have recently been reprinted.
Mueller has published scores of articles in such journals as International Security, American Political Science Review, American Interest, Security Studies, Orbis, American Journal of Political Science, National Interest, Foreign Affairs, Lapham's Quarterly, British Journal of Political Science, Policy Studies Journal, International Interactions, Political Science Quarterly, International Studies Perspectives, Terrorism and Political Violence, Journal of Peace Research, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Review of International Studies, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and Foreign Policy, as well as many editorial page columns and articles in the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New Republic, Nation, American Conservative, Regulation, Reason, Washington Post, New York Newsday, and New York Times. He has been a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and the Cato Institute in Washington, DC, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Olso. He has appeared on television on "Paula Zahn Now," "The O'Reilly Factor," "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," "Hannity and Colmes," and "20/20" with John Stossel, and on radio on "The Michael Medved Show" and on NPR's "On Point" and "All Things Considered."
In another field, he is the author of Astaire Dancing (Knopf, 1985). Before publication this book won the de la Torre Bueno prize of Dance Perspectives Foundation as the "most distinguished manuscript on dance;" since publication, it has been called "one of the most satisfying, rich and witty film books ever written" by Kirkus Reviews, and "an extraordinary study of film art" by the New York Times. Mueller is also the director of Ohio State's Dance Film Archive, a set of DVDs, videotapes, and 16mm films that are available for purchase and rental.
Also to his credit are scripts for two musicals. One of these, A Foggy Day, combines a P.G. Wodehouse play with songs by George and Ira Gershwin and, co-written by Norm Foster, was produced for the 1998 and 1999 seasons at the Shaw Festival, in Ontario, Canada for over 125 performances (all sold out) each season. Another, One For My Baby, derives from a Fred Astaire film and makes use of songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Mueller also provides the commentary track on the DVD version of the 1936 Astaire-Rogers film, Swing Time.
Before coming to Ohio State in 2000, Mueller was on the faculty at the University of Rochester for many years. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has been a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow, and has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He has also received several teaching prizes, and in 2009 received the International Studies Association's Susan Strange Award that "recognizes a person whose singular intellect, assertiveness, and insight most challenge conventional wisdom and intellectual and organizational complacency in the international studies community."
Profile in U.S. News & World Report
Political Science papers, articles, and books available on the web