Teaching/Research

Randall L. Schweller is professor of political science, director of the Program for the Study of Realist Foreign Policy, Social and Behavioral Sciences Joan N. Huber Faculty Fellow at Ohio State University, and editor-in-chief of Security Studies.

Schweller is the author of several books including

• Maxwell’s Demon and the Golden Apple: Global Discord in the New Millennium (Johns Hopkins University, 2014)
• Unanswered Threats: Political Constraints on the Balance of Power (Princeton University Press, 2006)
• Deadly Imbalances: Tripolarity and Hitler’s Strategy of World Conquest (Columbia University Press, 1998)

He has also published many articles in leading journals, including World Politics, International Studies Quarterly, International Security, American Political Science Review, Global Governance, American Journal of Political Science, Review of International Studies, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, The National Interest, International Theory, and Security Studies. He is currently a member of the editorial boards of International Security, Security Studies, Foreign Affairs Review (China), and the Studies in Asian Security book series published by Stanford University Press.

Noted for his work as a grand theorist of international relations and as a founder of neoclassical realism, Schweller's recent publications include:

• “Three Cheers for Trump’s Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 97, No. 5 (September-October 2018)
• “Opposite but Compatible Nationalisms: A Neoclassical Realist Approach to the Future of US-China Relations,” The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 11, Issue 1 (March 2018)
• Why Trump Now: A Third-Image Explanation,” in America and the World — 2017 and Beyond, edited by Robert Jervis, Francis Gavin, Joshua Rovner, and Diane Labrosse (Columbia University Press, 2018)
• "After Unipolarity: China’s Vision of International Order in an Era of U.S. Decline" International Security, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Summer 2011), co-authored with Xiaoyu Pu
• “Emerging Powers in the Age of Disorder.” Global Governance, Vol. 17, No. 3 (July-Sept. 2011)
• "Rational Theory for a Bygone Era," Security Studies, Vol. 20 (September 2011)
• “The Future is Uncertain and the End is Always Near,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 24, No. 2 (September 2011)
• “Knowing the Unknown Unknowns: Misplaced Certainty and the Onset of War,” Security Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jan-March 2011), co-authored with Jennifer Mitzen
• “The Logic and Illogic of Contemporary Realism,” International Theory, Vol. 2, Issue 3 (December 2010)
• “Ennui Becomes Us,” The National Interest, No. 105 (Jan/Feb 2010)
• “Entropy and the Trajectory of World Politics: Why Polarity Has Become Less Meaningful,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 23, No. 1 (March 2010).

In a survey of international relations faculty in 10 countries conducted by the Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations, Schweller was selected as one of the top 25 scholars who have produced the most interesting work in the field of international relations. In 1993, he received a John M. Olin Post-Doctoral Fellowship in National Security at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. In 2012, Schweller was awarded a Social and Behavioral Sciences Joan N. Huber Faculty Fellowship.

Media Links

Mershon Center: Conference explores international relations through realism lens (2019)
Mershon Center: Conference Preview: What is Realist Foreign Policy? (2019)
Think podcast: How Trump Is Winning At Foreign Policy (2018)
NPR Weekend Edition: A Perspective From A Pro-Trump Political Science Professor (2018)
Vox: The case for Trump’s foreign policy, according to a leading international relations scholar (2018)
WOSU: President Trump's State of the Union (2018)

Faculty Links

Curriculum Vitae (pdf)
Department web page

Mershon Projects

Program for the Study of Realist Foreign Policy (2018-)
Security Studies (2014-)
National Security Speaker Series (2010-)