Edward Luttwak

Edward Nicolae Luttwak (born 1942) is an economist and historian known for his many publications on military strategy and international relations.

Related Topics:
1942 - Economist - Historian - Military strategy - International relations

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Luttwak was born in Arad, Romania, and later attended the London School of Economics and Johns Hopkins University, where he received a doctorate. His first academic post was at the University of Bath. As of 2004, he is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C..

Related Topics:
Arad - Romania - London School of Economics - Johns Hopkins University - University of Bath - As of 2004 - Center for Strategic and International Studies - Washington, D.C.

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He has served as a consultant to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the National Security Council, and the U.S. Department of State. He is a member of the National Security Study Group of the U.S. Department of Defense, and an associate of the Japan Finance Ministry's Institute of Fiscal and Monetary Policy.

Related Topics:
Secretary of Defense - National Security Council - Department of State - National Security Study Group - Department of Defense

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Luttwak is a frequent lecturer and consultant, and has developed a reputation for offbeat proposals intended to provoke thought, for instance suggesting that major powers' attempts to quell regional wars actually make the wars more intense. His book Coup d'etat is perhaps his best-known work; it has been reprinted numerous times, and translated into 14 languages.

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The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire from the First Century AD to the Third has stirred a lot of controversy among professional historians. Luttwak is seen as an outsider and non-specialist in the field, but his book has raised a lot of questions and created a whole new wave of scholarship on the Roman army and barbarians on the frontier. Luttwak asked simply "How did the Romans defend the frontier?", a question that had been lost in the noise of professional discourse of demographics and economics and sociology. Soldiers were trained to kill and destroy, that was their purpose, Luttwak brought that back into the debate.

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He serves on the editorial boards of Geopolitique (France), the Journal of Strategic Studies, and the Washington Quarterly. He speaks English, French, Italian, and Spanish.

Related Topics:
Geopolitique - Journal of Strategic Studies - Washington Quarterly - English - French - Italian - Spanish

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