John Hugh "Adam" Watson (10 August 1914 – 24 August 2007)
''The Telegraph'', 28 September 2007 was a British

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 ...

theorist and researcher. Alongside

Hedley Bull Hedley Norman Bull (10 June 1932 – 18 May 1985) was Professor of International Relations at the Australian National University, the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford until his death from cancer in 1985. He was Montague ...

Martin Wight Robert James Martin Wight (26 November 1913 – 15 July 1972) was one of the foremost British scholars of international relations in the twentieth century, and one of the most profound thinkers on international theory of his generation. He was t ...

Herbert Butterfield Sir Herbert Butterfield (7 October 1900 – 20 July 1979) was an English historian and philosopher of history, who was Regius Professor of Modern History and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is remembered chiefly for a sh ...

, and others, he was one of the founding members of the English school of international relations theory.

Biography

He was born John Hugh Watson and educated at

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. As an undergraduate at Cambridge, where he read History, Watson was taught by

(later Sir Herbert, and Regius Professor of History). After a period of travel in central Europe in the late 1930s, he joined the

British Diplomatic Service His Majesty's Diplomatic Service (HMDS) is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, dealing with foreign affairs and representing British interests overseas, as opposed to the Civil Service, which deals ...

in 1937, taking the nickname Adam "after noticing that every head in the Foreign Office seemed to turn when someone asked for John". During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he acted as a liaison with the

Free French Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, played an unknown role in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, based in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, and was finally posted to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where he witnessed the victory celebrations of 1945, standing alongside the Soviet Politburo and where he remained for the next four years. In 1949 Watson joined the Foreign Office's new

Information Research Department The Information Research Department (IRD) was a secret Cold War propaganda department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Foreign Office, created to publish anti-communist propaganda, including black propaganda, provide support and i ...

(IRD), which the historian Richard Aldrich has described as a 'covert political warfare section', as successor to the

Political Warfare Executive During World War II, the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) was a British clandestine body created to produce and disseminate both white and black propaganda, with the aim of damaging enemy morale and sustaining the morale of countries occupied ...

(PWE) that had operated during the Second World War. A key figure in this organisation, he was first assistant to its Head,

Ralph Murray Sir Francis Ralph Hay Murray (3 March 1908 – 11 September 1983) was a British journalist, radio broadcaster and diplomat. He was also once the head of the Information Research Department (IRD), a secret branch of the UK Foreign Office dedica ...

, with the job of recruiting 'left-of-centre intellectuals' for the production of

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

'grey' propaganda, and was later posted to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. In the USA he served as Britain's 'psywar sychological warfareliaison officer' (Aldrich) in Washington between 1950 and sometime in the mid-1950s, before becoming Head of the African Department of the Foreign Office during the

Suez Crisis of 1956 The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

. He served as Her Majesty's Ambassador to

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

(1960–61),

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

and

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

(1960–62), and finally

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

(1962–66). He returned to London in 1966 to spend two years as Assistant Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office before retiring early. After a period with

British Leyland British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...

in the late 1960s, he entered academia, first at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, at the invitation of Hedley Bull, and then in the United States, where he was Professor of International Studies at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. In the late 1950s, it is likely that, given his extensive contacts in the United States and together with Kenneth W. Thompson, Watson was instrumental in facilitating the funding of the British Committee on the Theory of International Politics, chaired in its early years by his former supervisor, Butterfield, and funded by the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

. Watson became a member of Committee, attending when he was in the UK, and later becoming its third chairman, in succession to Butterfield and to

. He was instrumental in the production of ''The Expansion of International Society'' (1984), edited with Hedley Bull, a key text of the English school of international relations. He also wrote a number of other significant works, including ''The Nature and Problems of the Third World'' (1968), ''Diplomacy'' (1982) and ''The Evolution of International Society'' (1992), a wide-ranging comparative study of historical international systems.

Works

*195
''Problems of Adjustment in the Middle East''
(Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 282) *196
''The War of the Goldsmith's Daughter''
(Chatto & Windus) *1984 (ed. with H. Bull) ''The Expansion of International Society'' (Clarendon Press) *1992 ''The Evolution of International Society: A Comparative Historical Analysis'' (Routledge) *1997 ''The Limits of Independence'' (Routledge) *199
''The British Committee for the Theory of International Politics, some historical notes''
(University of Leeds) *200
''International Relations and the Practice of Hegemony''
(University of Leeds) *200
''Recollection of my discussions with Hedley Bull about the place in the history of International Relations of the idea of the Anarchical Society''
(University of Leeds) *2004 ''Diplomacy: The Dialogue Between States'', 2nd ed. (Routledge) *2007 ''Hegemony & History'' (Routledge)

References

Sources

* Richard J. Aldrich
''The Hidden Hand: Britain, America and Cold War Secret Intelligence''
(Woodstock & New York: Overlook, 2002) * Adam Bernstein

obituary, ''Washington Post'', 14 September 2007

External links

Obituary in ''The Times'', 17 October 2007
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Adam 1914 births 2007 deaths British anti-communist propagandists British expatriate academics Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Mali Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Mauritania Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Cuba Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Togo Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Senegal People educated at Rugby School Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Academic staff of the Australian National University University of Virginia faculty Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Scholars of diplomacy Information Research Department Foreign Office personnel of World War II