Augustus Richard Norton (September 2, 1946 – February 20, 2019) was an American professor and

army officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an Military, armed force or Uniformed services, uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warra ...

. He was a professor 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 ...

and

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

at the Pardee School of Global Studies at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. 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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He was a graduate of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

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

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

officer. In 1980-81, he 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. Norton received his PhD from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1984.

Academic Career

In 1981, he joined the faculty of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, 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 (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He also taught

's only anthropology course. He retired in 1993 with the rank of colonel to join the faculty of

. He retired from BU in 2017. In 1992, Norton launched the “Civil Society in the Middle East Project” at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. The project was supported by the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

. Prof. Denis J. Sullivan called the project "field-changing" and it resulted in the publication of two volumes on civil society in the region. In 2006, Norton was an advisor the Iraq Study Group, also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission. He served as the founding chairman of the executive committee of the Boston Consortium for Arab Region Studies (BCARS). BCARS was founded in 2013.

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 ...

'' 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-polisci-bio-stub