Walter briefed National Press Foundation fellows in October 2022: Is America at Risk of a Civil War?

Barbara F. Walter, Ph.D., is the Rohr Professor of International Affairs at the School of Global Policy & Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and completed postdocs at the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University and the War and Peace Institute at Columbia University.

Walter is one of the world’s leading experts on civil wars, political violence, and terrorism. Her books include the award-winning Committing to Peace: Why Negotiations fail, Reputation and Civil War, and Civil Wars, Insecurity, and Intervention. Her newest book – “How Civil Wars Start (and How to Stop Them)” – explores whether the U.S. is heading toward a second civil war.

Walter is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a frequent live guest on CNN, and an active consultant for the World Bank, the United Nations, and the Departments of Defense and State. She occasionally writes for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times, and is very happy when her research is showcased in the New York Times or the New Yorker, her favorite hometown publications. In 2012, she founded the blog Political Violence @ a Glance (with Erica Chenoweth) which sometimes beats out the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage for Best Group Blog of the Year.

When not studying violence, she likes to paint, draw, and do anything involving art. She has a tendency to stick post-it notes all over her house, cook with exuberance, and make her husband and daughter laugh. Her favorite food is a slice of pizza, folded in half, and eaten by hand.