Francis Beer
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Francis A. Beer is an American professor emeritus 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 ...
,
University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...
. His research focuses on war and peace. Honors and awards include listings in Who's Who in the World and
Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...
, as well as other directories. He was president of the
International Studies Association The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of International relations, international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Con ...
/West and co-edited, with Ted Gurr at the
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
, a series of Sage books on "Violence, Conflict, Cooperation." In addition to two
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
awards to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
he has received other awards from the Earhart Foundation, the Institute for World Order, and the
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
. At the
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
, he represented the faculty as chair of the Boulder Faculty Assembly.


Biography


Education

Francis A. Beer graduated from the
Fay School Fay School, founded in 1866 by the Fay sisters, is an independent, coeducational day and boarding school located in Southborough, Massachusetts. History Founding and early years Fay School was founded in 1866 by sisters Eliza Burnett Fay ...
and the
Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...
. He received his A.B. (1960) from
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
in government and M.A. (1963) and Ph.D. (1967) in
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 ...
from the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
.


Career

After leaving
Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
, he spent two years in the Philippines as a communications officer with the U.S. Navy, leaving with the rank of Lieutenant. He returned to the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, where he completed graduate work in
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 specialized in international relations and received a
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
award to France to study the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and took a pre-doctoral year at the
Mershon Center The Mershon Center for International Security Studies is a research institute at the Ohio State University. The current director is Dorothy Noyes. History The Mershon Center was founded in 1952 upon the death of Ralph D. Mershon, an alumnus o ...
of the
Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
. He received another
Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
award to the Netherlands to study the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. He subsequently taught for many years at the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
and the
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
in Boulder. At the
University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...
, he served as Director of the Conflict and Peace Studies Program and as Chair of the Boulder Faculty Assembly. He was a visiting professor at
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in England and the
University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...
in France. Francis A. Beer is the author of such scientific publications: "''Meanings of War and Peace", "Peace Against War: The Ecology of International Violence",'' "''Integration and Disintegration in NATO: Processes of Alliance Cohesion and Prospects for Atlantic Community"''. In his publications he considers the formation and functioning of international alliances through the theoretical ideas of postrealism. His publications have also been translated into Arabic and French.


Family and personal life

He married his wife, Diana Darnall Beer before leaving Berkeley in 1965. His family includes two sons (Omar and Jeremy), a daughter (Marie), two daughters in law (Caroline and Jessica), and four grandsons (Augustus Charles, Solomon Jackson, Arlo Fletcher, and Ethan West).


Research of war and peace

Beer's scientific publications has specialized on the nature, causes, and consequences of
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
and
peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...
and their
dialectic Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the ...
al essence. His articles were published in the Oxford International Encyclopedia of International Peace and in the World Encyclopedia of Peace and has contributed to knowledge about war and peace in a number of different areas.


Historical trends and statistics of War and Peace

Professor F. A. Beer found that periods of major peace have tended to become longer over time. And the wars are generally getting shorter accordingly, but more serious in terms of their destructive power. On his opinion, these are general tendencies. However, trends and
statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
are less clear for a smaller and separate sample of countries, such as Professor F.A. Beer draws on the experience of war and peace in
the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. In this context, examples are given of the wars in
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
and Iraq.


Alliances as Latent War Communities

Francis A. Beer in his publication "''Integration and Disintegration in NATO: Processes of Alliance Cohesion and Prospects for Atlantic Community"'' has shown how
geopolitical Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of states: ''de facto'' independen ...
actors who joined military-political
alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...
s, such as
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
, for example, create local international communities that are essentially both integrative and disintegrative. According to the professor, members of NATO help maintain the internal peace of members, but are ready to wage war against external geopolitical actors. So the Alliance's institutions provide a framework through which members contribute a variety of resources and receive both collective and private benefits.


Books and Monographs

* ''Metaphorical World Politics'' (Francis A. Beer and Christ'l de Landtsheer, Eds.) (East Lansing MI:
Michigan State University Press Michigan State University Press is the scholarly publishing arm of Michigan State University. Scholarly publishing at the university significantly predates the establishment of its press in 1947. By the 1890s the institution's Experiment Stations ...
, 2004). * ''Meanings of War and Peace''. (College Station:
Texas A&M University Press Texas A&M University Press (also known informally as TAMU Press) is a scholarly publishing house associated with Texas A&M University. It was founded in 1974 and is located in College Station, Texas, in the United States. Overview The Texas A&M ...
, 2001). * ''Post-Realism: The Rhetorical Turn in International Relations'', Francis A. Beer and Robert Hariman, Eds. (East Lansing MI: Michigan State University Press, 1996). * ''Peace against War: The Ecology of International Violence''. (
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
: W. H. Freeman, 1981). * ''How Much War in History: Definitions, Estimates Extrapolations, and Trends''. (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1975). * ''The Political Economy of Alliances: Benefits, Costs, and Institutions in NATO''. (
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
: Sage, 1972). * ''Alliances: Latent War Communities in the Contemporary World'', edited. (
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 * ...
: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1970). * ''Integration and Disintegration in NATO: Processes of Alliance Cohesion and Prospects for Atlantic Community''. (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1969).


References


External links


Beer's webpage, ''University of Colorado''

ResearchGate

Academia

Globalizing Media

CU Scholar

Mythic America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beer, Francis University of Colorado Boulder faculty American political scientists 1939 births Living people Harvard University alumni Fellows of the Earhart Foundation Fay School alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni American political psychologists UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni