James J. Wirtz
James J. Wirtz is a professor and former chair of the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California. He served as Dean of the School of International Graduate Studies at NPS and as the Director of the Global Center for Security Cooperation, Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Professor Wirtz played a pivotal role in creating the Center for Homeland Defense and Security at NPS, which educates state, local, federal and tribal officials to better respond to natural and deliberate threats. He was a visiting professor at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University.
Professor Wirtz is a past president of the International Security and Arms Control Section of the American Political Science Association and a former section and program chair of the Intelligence Studies Section of the International Studies Association. In 2016, he was honored as a Distinguished Scholar by the International Studies Association.
Professor Wirtz earned his degrees in Political Science from Columbia University (MPhil, PhD), and the University of Delaware (MA, BA). He also was a John M. Olin Pre-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.
Professor Wirtz’s written work includes dozens of books and hundreds of articles, book chapters, and reviews concerning strategy, deterrence theory, and intelligence affairs. His textbooks published by Oxford University Press, Strategy in the Contemporary World, which is in its 7th edition and Intelligence: The Secret World of Spies, which is in its 6th edition, have introduced thousands of students to the study of strategy, international security, and intelligence. He recently completed an update of Colin Gray’s War Peace and International Relations 3rd edition (Routledge 2024.)
