James Kurth is Professor of Political Science Emeritus and Senior Research Scholar at Swarthmore College. He is the author of The American Way of Empire: How America Won a World—But Lost Her Way (Washington Books, 2019) and editor of three professional volumes, in the fields of U.S. foreign and defense policy, international politics, and the comparative politics of America and Europe. His recent publications have focused upon the interrelations between the global economy, cultural conflicts, and military strategy.
Professor Kurth received his A.B. in history from Stanford University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University, where he also taught as an assistant and associate professor of government. He has been a visiting member of the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, NJ), visiting professor of political science at the University of California at San Diego, and visiting professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War College, where he received the Department of the Navy medal for Meritorious Civilian Service. He is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (Philadelphia), where he has served as the chair of its Study Group of America and the West and as Editor of its journal Orbis: A Journal of World Affairs. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (New York), and of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London).
