Walter Clemens
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Walter Carl Clemens, Jr. (born April 6, 1933) is an American political scientist known for advancing complexity science as an approach to the study of international relations and for arms control and U.S. relations with communist and post-communist countries Some observers call him a "cold warrior for peace." Clemens is an Associate at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies and Professor Emeritus 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 ...
.https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PkhSXRcAAAAJ&hl=en, retrieved April 13, 2025; for more details, see https://www.bu.edu/polisci/profile/walter-clemens/ He has authored numerous books, articles, and editorials. Since 2008, he has been a regular contributor to '' Global Asia'', the quarterly journal of the East Asia Foundation. Clemens is also an artist, who draws on influences from many cultures and seeks to bring out what is true, good, and beautiful. His paintings can be seen at www.waltclemens.art.


Biography

Clemens studied art and art history at the
University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
, 1952–53, before graduating from
Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Catholic religious order o ...
''
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' in 1955. Under a
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. ...
fellowship Clemens studied at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, 1955–61. He did research for his dissertation on Soviet disarmament policy under
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
at
Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...
(1958–59), and at the
Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and formerly The Hoover Institute and Library on War, Revolution, and Peace) is an American public policy think tank which promotes personal and economic ...
(1959). At Columbia, he received a master's degree and Certificate of the Russian Institute in 1957 and a Ph.D. in International Relations in 1961. Clemens grew up in
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, graduating first in his class in 1951 from Purcell High School, where he also played tackle on the state champion football team.


Professional career

Since the 1960s, Clemens has taught at a number of academic institutions, including
Iolani School Iolani is a masculine Hawaiian name meaning "royal ''hawk''." It comes from the Hawaiian words ''ʻio'', meaning "Hawaiian hawk," and ''lani'', meaning "royal." It may refer to: ;Places *ʻIolani School, a private school located in Hawaii *ʻIolan ...
in Honolulu, Hawaii, the
University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...
, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
, and Boston University, where, since 2012, he is Professor Emeritus of Political Science. Since 1963, Clemens has been an Associate at Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. He was also an Associate at the Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, 1986–2003. Clemens's papers are housed at the
Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center The Mugar Memorial Library is the primary library for study, teaching, and research in the humanities and social sciences for Boston University. It was opened in 1966. Stephen P. Mugar, an Armenian immigrant who was successful in the grocery b ...
at Boston University. His work has been supported by four major grants from the Ford Foundation and two from the Rockefeller Foundation. His research was supported also by the University of California, MIT, Columbia, Harvard, Boston University, and the
East–West Center The East–West Center (EWC), or the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, is an education and research organization established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations and understanding among the peop ...
in Honolulu, and by several government agencies including
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
, the U.S.
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency The U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) was an independent agency of the United States government that existed from 1961 to 1999. Its mission was to strengthen United States national security by "formulating, advocating, negotiating, ...
, the
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
, the
Fulbright-Hays Program 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 o ...
, and
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 ...
. Clemens has reviewed for ''New York Journal of Books'' since 2017. From 2014 to 2022, he was Book Review Editor for the journal ''Asian Perspective''. From 1982, he belonged to the Usage Panel of the ''American Heritage Dictionary'' until it ended in 2018. Starting in 2021, he has been a frequent contributor to ''Europe's Edge, e.g., https://cepa.org/article/totalitarians-choke-growth-as-well-as-freedom-nob''


Arms control and security studies

Clemens has also made contributions to the study of arms control in U.S. relations with the USSR, China, and North Korea. As Executive Officer of the White House Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament for International Cooperation Year 1965, Clemens drafted the committee's proposal, "3-Year Moratorium urged on Antimissile Missiles." In the 1980s, Clemens conducted surveys showing that most Americans erroneously believed that their country was protected by an effective missile defense shield. Clemens treated this as a dangerous illusion.


Soviet and post-Soviet studies

Having participated in the first exchange of U.S. and Soviet graduate students in 1958–59, Clemens became one of the first specialists to study Soviet arms control policies. As the Soviet system entered its final years, he wrote ''Can Russia Change? The USSR Confronts Global Interdependence'' (1990) and ''Baltic Independence and Russian Empire'' (1991). In a review for ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
'', John C. Campbell wrote of ''Can Russia Change?'' that "the main argument for relations of '
complex interdependence Complex interdependence in international relations and international political economy is a concept put forth by Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye in the 1970s to describe the emerging nature of the global political economy. The concept entails that r ...
' is clear and convincing". In ''Baltic Independence'', Clemens argued that the Singing Revolution of the three Baltic nations gave a coup de grâce to the Soviet system. The ''Foreign Affairs'' review of ''Baltic Interdependence'' expressed: " is book, better than any other, tells how the local communist parties tried and failed to adapt to the growing popular demands for national self-determination." A review in ''
Lituanus ''Lituanus'' is an English language quarterly journal dedicated to Lithuanian and Baltic languages, linguistics, political science, arts, history, literature, and related topics. It is published by the non-profit Lituanus Foundation, Inc., and ha ...
'' described ''Baltic Interdependence'' as "the only current scholarly work which succinctly summarizes the troubled histories of the Baltic nations, including the complicated negotiations for independence during the years 1917–1920". Based on what he observed in the Soviet empire, Clemens was one of the few scholars to anticipate the imminent collapse of the Soviet system. Later analyzing a decade of post-Soviet development, Clemens wrote ''The Baltic Transformed: Complexity Theory and European Security'' (2001). Following Russia's invasions of Ukraine and China's actions in Xinjiang and the South China Sea, Clemens published many critical essays in Europe's ''Edge'' and other periodicals. Moscow's growing ties with Pyongyang as well as Beijing led Clemens to write about the emerging totalitarian axis. In 2023 he wrote ''Blood Debts: What Putin and Xi Owe Their Victims.'' Reviewing this book in ''Global Asia'' (December 2023) professor Mel Gurtov observed that Clemens looks beyond Putin and Xi to a new order for the Russian and Chinese people, based on adoption by successor governments of Immanuel Kant's three foundations for "perpetual peace" - republican government, international law under a federation of free states and respect for human rights." This may seem unachievable, but Clemens reminds readers how post-war Germany and Japan embraced democratic institutions. Clemens also addressed problems within the United States. In 2023 he published ''The Republican War on America: Dangers of Trump and Trumpism''. Professor Matthew Weiss termed the book, "a timely, rich, and insightful contribution to our understanding of the components, causes and consequences of Trumpism." It is "an essential resource for all those who wish to learn more about the underpinnings, inner workings, and the tenets of Trumpism, and how the rot of Trump and Trumpism have debased the American presidency, tarnished the Republican Party, and shaken the democratic foundations of the U.S. to its core."


Scholarship on North and South Korea

Clemens is also an authority on North Korea. He is on the editorial board of Asian Perspective, where he writes a book review essay for each issue. He has written many articles on North Korea and on China for the ''
Journal of East Asian Studies The ''Journal of East Asian Studies'' is a triannual peer-reviewed open-access academic journal covering East Asian studies. It was established in 2001 and is published by Cambridge University Press. , the editor-in-chief is Thomas Pepinsky (Corn ...
'', '' Global Asia'' and ''
The Diplomat A diplomat is someone who represents a government in its relations with other governments. It may also refer to: Diplomat, the Diplomat or the Diplomats may refer to: Media * ''The Diplomat'' (magazine), a Washington, D.C. online foreign affa ...
'' (on-line). Analyzing events at the eastern edge of the former Soviet sphere, Clemens asked what lessons, if any, from the U.S.-Soviet experience might apply to arms control negotiations with North Korea. He published ''Getting to Yes in Korea'' (with a foreword by the late Gov.
Bill Richardson William Blaine Richardson III (November 15, 1947 – September 1, 2023) was an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the List of governors of New Mexico, 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was U.S. ambassador to ...
). This was the first book to systematically apply theories of international relations, complexity and negotiation to the goal of stemming North Korea's nuclear program. The book used scenarios methodology - not to predict the future, but to outline alternative futures. What combinations of circumstances make each scenario more likely? What actions can avoid the worst of these, and what actions improve the likelihood of better ones." The book listed recommendations on how to foster a more secure and prosperous world. The book was praised as a negotiation manual by Graham Allison and Terence Roehrig, but a Canadian reviewer wanted more specific (and self-assured) policy guidelines. Asking whether and how the West should negotiate with brutal dictatorship, Clemens on February 3, 2011 gave the Glasmcher Lecture in Ottawa, Canada, at the Symposium on Conflict Resolution. The lecture title was "Can-Should-Must We Negotiate with Evil?"


Complexity science

In 2004, Clemens published the second edition of ''Dynamics of International Relations'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004). The book presents a new approach to the study of international relations and has become an increasingly popular alternative to more traditional international relations course texts. ''Dynamics of International Relations'' has received professional praise from a wide spectrum of scholars and practitioners, including Governor
Bill Richardson William Blaine Richardson III (November 15, 1947 – September 1, 2023) was an American politician, author, and diplomat who served as the List of governors of New Mexico, 30th governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. He was U.S. ambassador to ...
,
Zbigniew Brzezinski Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński (, ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), known as Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was Jimmy Carter's National Securi ...
, J. Ann Tickner, Michael W. Doyle and David Singer. Clemens tried to use complexity theory to explain some facets of international relations.Summarized in three Clemens articles: "Complexity Theory and European Security: What Capacity to Describe, Prescribe, or Forecast?" in ''Europe's New Security Challenges'', ed. Heinz Gärtner et al. (Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner, 2001), pp. 55-69; “Ethnic Peace, Ethnic Conflict: Complexity Theory on Why the Baltic is Not the Balkans,” ''Communist and Post-Communist Studies'' 43 (2010), pp. 245-261; and “Keys to Human Development: The Baltic Miracle,” ''NETSOL'', http://www.netsoljournal.net/ 5, 2, (Fall 2020): 1-29 at https://doi.org/10.24819/netsol2020.05 His major work on this topic is ''Complexity Science and World Affairs'' (State University of New York Press, 2013). This book, according to S. Fredrick Starr at the School for Advanced International Studies, "offers a fresh, even startling, paradigm and process for analyzing the seemingly unpredictable relations within and among human societies. With impressive clarity he proposes that 'the capacity to cope with complexity' has become a key determinant of success in our intricately interrelated world." In a similar vein, Jacek Kugler (professor at Claremont Graduate University and former president of the International Studies Association) wrote that "this breakthrough book provides a new, promising general paradigm exploring and explaining the complexity of world politics. For scholars and analysts pushing the boundaries of our field, this is a must-read volume." The two books published in 2023 cited above on Putin and Xi, and Trumpism present a much darker view of reality cognizant of a global shift toward authoritarianism and abuse of human rights.


Honors, awards and professional leadership

* Research Fellow, East-West Center,
University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
, 2006; * Fulbright-Hayes Research-Lecturing Award, University of Ljubljana, 2005; * Usage Panel, American Heritage Dictionary, 1982–2018; * International Advisory Board, Sakharov Archives, Brandeis University, 2001–04; * Fellow, Södertörns University College, Stockholm, 1999; * Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer on Arms Control, China, 1999–2000; * International Advisory Board, Russian Science Foundation, 1992–95; * Committee on Comparative and Interdisciplinary Studies, International Studies Association, 1993–95; * Grantee, Russian Littoral Project, University of Maryland and SAIS, 1993; * Fellow, Council on Economic Priorities, 1990; * Lecturer, U.S. Information Service Specialist Programs, Europe (1976, 1992), Asia (1970, 1982–83), Latin America (1976); * Fulbright Lecturer, University of the West Indies, Trinidad, 1977–78; * Lecturer at the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies, Austrian Diplomatic Academy, Academy of Science in Hungary (also in Estonia and Georgia), and three universities in Argentina.


Partial list of publications


Books, chapters and edited volumes

* ''Blood Debts: What Putin and Xi Owe Their Victims''. (Washington DC: Westphalia Press, 2023), xv + 246 p. * ''The Republican War on America: Dangers of Trump and Trumpism'' (Washington DC: Westphalia Press, 2023) * ''Complexity Science and World Affairs'', Foreword by Stuart A. Kauffman (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2013) * ''Getting to Yes in Korea'', Foreword by Gov. Bill Richardson (Boulder, Co.: Paradigm Publishers, 2010); Korean language edition (Seoul: Hanul, 2010) * ''Ambushed! A Cartoon History of the George W. Bush Administration'', with Jim Morin (Boulder, Co.: Paradigm Publishers, 2008) * ''Dynamics of International Relations: Conflict and Mutual Gain in An Era of Global Interdependence''. 2d ed. (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004). * ''Bushed! What Passionate Conservatives Have Done to America and the World'', with Jim Morin. (Skaneateles, N.Y.: Outland Books, 2004) * ''The Baltic Transformed: Complexity Theory and European Security'', Foreword by Jack F. Matlock, Jr. (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001). * ''America and the World, 1898–2025: Achievements, Failures, Alternative Futures'' (New York: St. Martin's, 2000) * ''Baltic Independence and Russian Empire'' (New York: St. Martin's, 1991) * ''Can Russia Change? The USSR Confronts Global Interdependence'' (New York: Routledge, 1990 and Routledge Classics edition, 2011) * ''The U.S.S.R. and Global Interdependence: Alternative Futures'' (Washington, D.C.:
American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...
, 1978) * ''The Superpowers and Arms Control: From Cold War to Interdependence'' (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1973) * ''The Prospects for Peace, 1973–1977'', computer data file and codebook at International Relations Archive, Inter-University Consortium for Political Research, University of Michigan (1973), ICPSR 5803 * "Die Tschechoslowakei unter Husak", ''Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte'', Supplement, Das Parlament (Bonn) B24/70 (June 13, 1970) * ''The Arms Race and Sino-Soviet Relations'' (Stanford: The Hoover Institution, 1968) * ''Outer Space and Arms Control'' (Cambridge: The M.I.T. Center for Space Research, 1966) * Principal investigator, with Lincoln P. Bloomfield and Franklyn Griffiths, ''Khrushchev and the Arms Race: Soviet Interests in Arms Control and Disarmament'', 1954–1964 (Cambridge: The M.I.T. Press, 1966) * Ed. and Introduction, ''Toward a Strategy of Peace'', Foreword by Robert F. Kennedy (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1965) * Ed. and Introduction, ''World Perspectives on International Politics'' (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1965) * "Soviet Disarmament Policy, 1917–1963: An Annotated Bibliography of Soviet and Western Sources" (Stanford: The Hoover Institution, 1965)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clemens, Walter, Jr. 1933 births Living people American political scientists Columbia University alumni University of Notre Dame alumni University of Vienna alumni