Walter Russell Mead is the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College and Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal. He is a Distinguished Scholar in American Statecraft and Strategy at the Hudson Institute. Until 2011, he was also a Brady-Johnson Distinguished Fellow in Grand Strategy at Yale, where he had taught in the Yale International Security Studies Program since 2008.
His book, Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001), was widely hailed by reviewers, historians, and diplomats as an important study that will change the way Americans and others think about American foreign policy. Among several honors and prizes, Special Providence received the Lionel Gelber Award for best book in English on international relations in 2002. He was named a "Global View Columnist" at The Wall Street Journal in 2018.
His most recent book, God and Gold: Britain, America and the Making of the Modern World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007), is a major study of 400 years of conflict between Anglophone powers and rivals ranging from absolute monarchies like Spain and France through Communist and Fascist enemies in the twentieth century to al-Qaeda today. The Economist, The Financial Times and The Washington Post all listed it as one of the best non-fiction titles of the year.
Mr. Mead writes regularly on international affairs for many of the world’s leading publications. He serves as a reviewer of books on American history and foreign policy for Foreign Affairs and frequently contributes articles and review essays to the journal. Mr. Mead is also a regular columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He appears often on national and international radio and television programs. In 1997, he was a finalist for the National Magazine Award in the category of essays and criticism.
Prior to his current positions at Bard and The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Mead was a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City between 1997 and 2010, serving as the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy from 2003 until his departure. He is a founding board member of New America.
Mr. Mead is an honors graduate of Groton and Yale, where he received prizes for history, debate, and the translation of New Testament Greek. He is a native of South Carolina and lives in Jackson Heights, New York.