Philip Bobbitt: The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History

Join Professor Philip Bobbitt for a dynamic and exciting discussion of his visionary and prophetic book, The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History at our Spring Member/Guest Luncheon.

Over the past 500 years, countries and nations have evolved through cycles of war and peace. But now our world has changed irrevocably. What faces us in this era of fear and uncertainty? How do we protect ourselves against war machines that can penetrate the defenses of any state? The Shield of Achilles looks back at the "Long War" of 1914-1990, and at the future: the death of the nation-state and the birth of a new kind of conflict without precedent and borders.

Bobbitt's book is about preparing for an uncertain future, a true understanding of which depends on appreciating the global dynamic of the last six centuries, when revolutions in warfare and revolutions in government came together. In it, he examines the modern state: how it began in response to revolutionary changes in warfare and how it has periodically recreated itself constitutionally in response to such changes. Bobbitt explores how political upheavals that bring about constitutional changes have revolutionized warfare. Beginning with the Muslim siege of Constantinople, he concludes with a look at the potential outcomes in the 21 st century of the dynamic between constitutional struggle and strategic change.

Professor Bobbitt is the A.W. Walker Centennial Chair at the University of Texas at Austin Law School. One of the nation's leading constitutional theorists, Professor Bobbitt's interests include not only constitutional law but also international security and the history of strategy. He has published six books: Tragic Choices (with Calabresi) (1978), Constitutional Fate (1982), Democracy and Deterrence (1987), U.S. Nuclear Strategy (with Freedman and Treverton) (1989), Constitutional Interpretation (1991), and most recently The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History (Knopf, 2002). In his forthcoming book, The War Against Terror (Knopf, 2007), Bobbitt reflects on a new definition of warfare, the current domestic debate, the challenges to international law, and how our new market-driven society might measure victory. In addition to providing scenarios about how this war might unfold, the book also provides particular recommendations - a mix of policy prescriptions and a rethinking of the fundamentals of how we might actually win a war against terrorism. Philip C. Bobbitt was awarded the top prize at the 2003 Robert W. Hamilton Book Awards for his book The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History.

Bobbitt is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a Fellow of the Club of Madrid. He is a Life Member of the American Law Institute; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; the Pacific Council on International Policy; the International Institute for Strategic Studies; and the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. He is a member of the Commission on the Continuity of Government. He has served as Law Clerk to the Hon. Henry J. Friendly (2 nd Circuit); Associate Counsel to the President; the Counselor on International Law at the State Department; Legal Counsel to the Senate Iran-Contra Committee; and Director for Intelligence, Senior Director for Critical Infrastructure and Senior Director for Strategic Planning at the National Security Council. He is a former trustee of Princeton University ; and a former member of the Oxford University Modern History Faculty and the War Studies Department of Kings College, London. He serves on the Editorial Board of Biosecurity and Bioterrorism., He was the James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (Fall 2005). He is currently the Samuel Rubin Visiting Professor of Law at Columbia Law School (Spring 2007). AB 1971, Princeton, JD 1975, Yale, PhD 1983, Oxford.