Dr. Henry R. Nau

Henry R. Nau is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University. He holds a B.S. degree in Economics, Politics and Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His books include, among others, Conservative Internationalism: Armed Diplomacy Under Jefferson, Polk, Truman, and Reagan (Princeton 2013, paperback with new preface 2015); The Myth of America's Decline: Leading the World Economy into the 1990s (Oxford 1990);  At Home Abroad (Cornell 2002; and Perspectives on International Relations (Sage 2021, 7th edition). His latest articles and book chapters include “Does Biden Have a Foreign Policy?” National Review, forthcoming February 2024; “We Win; They Lose,” book review of William Inboden, The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, The Cold War and, the World on the Brink, Claremont Review of Books, Winter 2023; “Why Reagan Matters,” The National Review, July 10, 2022; and “Weberian and Rationalist Worldviews: What is at Stake?” in Peter J. Katzenstein, ed., Uncertainty and Its Discontents (Cambridge University Press, 2022). He is currently writing a book on Ronald Reagan: What he read, wrote and thought on his way to the White House.

Nau taught at Williams College (1971-73) and George Washington University (1973-2019). From January 1981 to July 1983, he served on President Reagan's National Security Council as senior staff member and White House sherpa for the Annual G-7 Economic Summits at Ottawa (1981), Versailles (1982), Williamsburg (1983) and a special summit with developing countries at Cancun, Mexico (1982). Dr. Nau also served, in 1975-1977, as Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs in the Department of State and, from 1963-65, as Lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.

For photos and more, see his personal website at henryrnau.com