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Bernard Brodie Distinguished Lecture Series On the Conditions of Peace

Bernard Brodie Distinguished Lecture Series On the Conditions of Peace

In sponsoring the Bernard Brodie Distinguished Lecture on the Conditions of Peace, the Burkle Center for International Relations celebrates the memory of Brodie as an eminent scholar and teacher. The lectures provide a special forum for outstanding students of politics, strategy, and warfare to present their thoughts and research within the scholarly and humanist tradition exemplified by Bernard Brodie.

Bernard Brodie's pioneering studies for world politics and military policy in the nuclear age received international recognition and established him as a founder of modern strategic theory. He was the first scholar of strategic studies to discern the revolutionary nature of warfare in the nuclear age and to point the way to a fundamental revision of the concepts, language, and theories of modern warfare. As early as 1946, in his book The Absolute Weapon, Brodie foretold the use of "massive retaliation" in the 1950's. Brodie's other books dealing with issues of strategy and military history include: Layman's Guide to Naval Strategy (1942), Seapower in the Machine Age (1943), Strategy in the Missile Age (1959), Escalation and the Nuclear Option (1966), as well as From Crossbow to H-Bomb (Revised Ed. 1973), on which he collaborated with his wife, the late Fawn Brodie, a prominent historian. Two of Brodie's principal interests were combined in his last book, War and Politics (1973) from which the title of the Lecture series was obtained.

Established in 1980, the Bernard Brodie Distinguished Lecture on the Conditions of Peace celebrates the memory of Bernard Brodie as an eminent scholar and teacher. This lecture series provides a special forum for dignitaries and scholars of politics, strategy, warfare, and peace to present their views to the UCLA community and the public.

Previous Presenters of the Bernard Brodie Distinguished Lecture