Barbara F. Walter

Barbara F. Walter

Professor of Political Science, University of California San Diego

Barbara Walter is Professor of Political Science at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego.  She is an expert on international security, with an emphasis on political violence, civil wars, and unconventional violence.  Her current research is on the behavior of rebel groups in civil wars, including inter-rebel group fighting, alliances and the strategic use of propaganda and extremism.  She received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago and did post docs at the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University, and at the War and Peace Institute at Columbia University.  Walter is on the editorial board of the American Political Science Review, International Organization, Journal of Politics, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and International Studies Quarterly.  She is also the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including awards from the National Science Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Guggenheim, and Smith Richardson Foundations.  Walter co-founded (with Erica Chenoweth) the blog Political Violence @ a Glance, winner of numerous blogging awards since its inception in 2012.  She is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, a frequent guest on CNN, BBC, and the CBC, and has written articles for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the Wall Street Journal