Tamar Meisels (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: תמר מייזלס) is a Professor of Government and Policy in the Department of Political Science at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

, and a

political theorist A political theorist is someone who engages in constructing or evaluating political theory, including political philosophy. Theorists may be academics or independent scholars. Ancient * Aristotle * Chanakya * Cicero * Confucius * Mencius * ...

Biography

Her father, Andrew Meisels, is a descendant of the Meisels family and was a foreign correspondent, author, and broadcaster. Her mother, Martha Meisels, was a consumer affairs reporter for the ''

Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Je ...

''. She earned a B.A., LL.B., and M.A. at

, and a Ph.D. in Political Theory at

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, in 2000. She works on the political theory of territorial rights, liberal nationalism, and the philosophical questions surrounding war and terrorism. Meisels is known for advocating a consistent and strict definition of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

, which she defines as "the intentional random murder of defenseless non-combatants, with the intent of instilling fear of mortal danger amidst a civilian population as a strategy designed to advance political ends." She has written on the complexities of applying international law to terrorists, who are neither soldiers nor civilians."Targeted Killing"
, Alia Brahimi, Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War, February 10, 2009

Select works

Books

* ''Environmental Ethics of War'' (Cambridge University Press, 2025) * ''Debating Targeted Killing: Counter-Terrorism or Extrajudicial Execution?'' (Oxford University Press, 2020, with

Jeremy Waldron Jeremy Waldron (; born 13 October 1953) is a New Zealand legal philosopher. He holds a University Professorship at the New York University School of Law, is affiliated with the New York University Department of Philosophy, and was formerly the ...

) * ''Contemporary Just War: Theory and Practice'' (Routledge, 2017) * ''Territorial Rights'' (Springer Academic, 2009) * ''The Trouble with Terror: Liberty, Security and the Response to Terrorism'' (Cambridge University Press, 2008)

Articles

* * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meisels, Tamar Israeli political scientists Israeli Jews Israeli political philosophers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Academic staff of Tel Aviv University Scholars of terrorism Israeli women academics Women political scientists Environmental ethicists