Edward C. Luck (17 October 1948 - 16 February 2021)
was an American professor, author, and expert in
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the Scientific method, scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities betwe ...
. He served as the
United Nations Secretary-General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations.
The role of the secretary- ...
’s Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect between 2008 and 2012, appointed at the Assistant Secretary-General level. He was replaced by
Jennifer Welsh
Jennifer Welsh is a Canadian writer, consultant, and professor, specializing in the field of international relations. Welsh has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from the University of Saskatchewan (1987). Welsh was named a Rh ...
of Canada. Previously he was Vice President of the
International Peace Institute as well as the director of the Center on International Organization of the
School of International and Public Affairs at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
. He also served as Dean of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the
University of San Diego between 2012 and 2013. From 2015 to 2021 Luck was the Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He also served on the International Advisory Board of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.
Biography
Luck received his BA in international relations from
Dartmouth College.
He earned his MA, MPh, and PhD in
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 ...
from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
, as well as an MIA from Columbia's
School of International and Public Affairs and a Certificate of the
Harriman Institute.
From 1984 to 1994 Luck was the president and CEO of the
United Nations Association
A United Nations Association (UNA) is a non-governmental organization that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of member states and the United Nations to raise public awareness of the UN and its work, to promot ...
of the USA (UNA-USA); he was president emeritus of that organization from 1994 to 1998). Between December 1995 and July 1997, Luck was a senior consultant to the Department of Administration and Management of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
, and a staff director of the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...
's Open-Ended High-Level Working Group on the Strengthening of the United Nations System.
Before joining the faculty at Columbia as Professor of Practice in International and Public Affairs, Luck founded and was executive director of the Center for the Study of International Organization, a research institute jointly established by the
New York University School of Law and the
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...
.
United Nations
On 21 February 2008 Luck was appointed Special Adviser at the Assistant Secretary-General level to the United Nations by UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
.
Luck was responsible for developing the three-pillar approach to the practical implementation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and was widely considered as one of the leading international scholars of the emerging norm. He also wrote and spoke widely about the "individual responsibility to protect" - the collective responsibility all human beings to take meaningful practical action to protect one another from genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Luck has testified before
Congress on
arms control
Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Arms control is typically exercised through th ...
,
defense,
foreign policy
A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
n and
East Asian
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South ...
affairs, and
United Nations reform and
peacekeeping
Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare.
Within the United ...
. He has also published dozens of articles in ''
Foreign Policy
A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...
'', the ''
Washington Quarterly'', ''
Current History'', ''
Disarmament
Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as ...
'', ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'', ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
'', ''
The Christian Science Monitor
''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'', ''
International Herald Tribune'', ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...
'', and ''
Newsday''.
Personal
Luck was married with one daughter.
He died on 16 February 2021 at his home in Briarcliff Manor, New York.
Bibliography
Books
* (with Stuart Albert)
*
*
* (with
Michael W. Doyle)
*
*(with Alex J. Bellamy)
Monographs
* (with
Toby Trister Gati and Çiḡdem A. Kurt)
* (with Toby Trister Gati)
* (with Gene M. Lyons)
*
*
*
Book chapters
"Tackling Terrorism"in ''The UN Security Council: from the Cold War to the 21st century'', David M. Malone, ed. Lynne Rienner Pub, 2004, pp. 85''ff''. .
"The Uninvited Challenge: Terrorism targets the United Nations"in ''Multilateralism Under Challenge: Power, international order, and structural change'', Edward Newman, Ramesh Thakur, and John Tirman, eds. Tokyo: United Nations University and the Social Science Research Council, 2006, pp. 336–355. .
"A Council for All Seasons: The Creation of the Security Council and Its Relevance Today"in ''The United Nations Security Council and War: The Evolution of Thought and Practice since 1945'', Vaughan Lowe, Adam Roberts, Jennifer Welsh and Dominik Zaum, eds. Oxford University press, May 2010, .
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luck, Edward
American political scientists
International relations scholars
Columbia University faculty
Dartmouth College alumni
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni
Living people
1948 births
American chief executives
Responsibility to protect
American officials of the United Nations