Augustus Richard Norton (September 2, 1946 – February 20, 2019) was an American professor and army officer. He was a professor of

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

at the Pardee School of Global Studies at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...

. He was best known for his writing on Middle East politics, and as an occasional commentator on U.S. policy in the Middle East.

Background

Norton was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He was a graduate of the Universities of Miami and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. After being commissioned from the ranks in 1967, Norton served two combat tours in Vietnam as an

airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

officer. He later served as an unarmed United Nations observer with

UNTSO The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) is an organization founded on 29 May 1948 for peacekeeping in the Middle East. Established amidst the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, its primary task was initially to provide the military com ...

in southern Lebanon. In 1981, he joined the faculty of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

, where he became a professor of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

. He also taught

's only anthropology course. He retired in 1993 with the rank of colonel to join the faculty of Boston University. In 2006, he was an advisor the

Iraq Study Group The Iraq Study Group (ISG) also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War a ...

, also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission.

Bibliography

* * ''Civil Society in the Middle East'', 2 vols., 1995, 1996, 2005 * ''Amal and the Shi'a: Struggle for the Soul of Lebanon'', 1987

Critical studies and reviews of Norton's work

;''Hezbollah : a short history'' * Max Rodenbeck,
Lebanon's Agony"
''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'' 54/11 (28 June 2007) : 10-14

References

External links

Webpage

Blog
* 1946 births 2019 deaths Writers from Brooklyn Military personnel from New York City University of Chicago alumni University of Miami alumni American foreign policy writers American male non-fiction writers Pardee School of Global Studies faculty Boston University faculty United States Military Academy faculty {{US-academic-bio-stub