Edgar S. Furniss Book Award

Each year, the Mershon Center for International Security Studies gives the Edgar S. Furniss Book Award to an author whose first book makes an exceptional contribution to the study of national and international security. The award commemorates the founding director of the Mershon Center, Edgar S. Furniss.

The award committee will consider any work that makes a theoretical and policy impact on our understanding any of the following themes:

• The use of force and diplomacy.
• The ideas, identities, and decisional processes that affect security.
• The institutions that manage violent conflict.

The Furniss Book Award was given for the first time in 1983 and has been awarded to several of the field's most prominent scholars early in their careers. Past winners include John Mearsheimer, Barry Posen, and Stephen Walt. The winning author receives a cash award and is invited to address the Mershon Center.

Nominations for the Furniss Book Award are due by January 31 of each year for books copyrighted in the previous year. For example, to nominate a book for the 2007 Furniss Book Award, the book must be copyrighted in 2007 and received by January 31, 2008.

To nominate a book for the Furniss Book Award, please send two copies to:

We accept submissions from authors and publishers. Edited volumes are not eligible. Copies of books submitted for the award cannot be returned.