Experts

John M. Owen IV

Faculty Senior Fellow

Fast Facts

  • Recipient of fellowships from the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard, the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford, and the Center of International Studies at Princeton
  • Member of the editorial board of International Security
  • 2015 winner, Humboldt Research Prize (Germany)
  • Expertise on war, regime change, religion, democracy and the international order, and international security

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • American Defense and Security
  • War and Terrorism
  • Religion

John M. Owen is a Miller Center faculty senior fellow and Ambassador Henry J. Taylor and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Professor of Politics. His newest book, The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile World Order (Yale University Press, 2023), received the 2025 Grawemeyer Award for World Order from the University of Louisville. He is also the author of Liberal Peace, Liberal War: American Politics and International Security (Cornell University Press, 1997) and The Clash of Ideas in World Politics: Transnational Networks, States, and Regime Change 1510-2010 (Princeton University Press, 2010). He is co-editor of Religion, the Enlightenment, and the New Global Order (Columbia University Press, 2011).

Owen has published work in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Washington Post, International Politics, International Organization, Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, Perspectives on Politics, The National Interest, and several edited volumes. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard, the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford, and the Center of International Studies at Princeton. His research has been funded by the MacArthur, Earhart, and Donchian Foundations. He received a Humboldt Research Prize in 2015. He is a member of the editorial boards of International Security and Security Studies and a faculty fellow at the UVA Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. 

John M. Owen IV News Feed

As the United States continues to be a major contributor to Ukraine’s war effort, Russia has warned the U.S. to back off. This news was first reported by The Washington Post, citing a diplomatic note from Moscow to Washington that said U.S. weapon shipments were “adding fuel” to the conflict in Eastern Europe. As a result, Russia said, the U.S. could be hit with “unpredictable consequences.” Undeterred, President Biden on Thursday announced an additional $800 million military package to be sent Ukraine’s way, including heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition and drones. How does this play out? How seriously should the Biden administration take the Russian threats? And what would be the war’s tipping point to force the U.S. and NATO into direct military action? UVA Today caught up with University of Virginia politics professor John Owen to analyze the situation. A Miller Center of Public Affairs senior fellow, Owen has expertise in foreign affairs, American defense and security, and war and terrorism.
John M. Owen IV UVA Today
The outcome of Russia’s war on Ukraine is far from clear. As of the time of this writing, Moscow and Kyiv are beginning a set of battles over the east and south of Ukraine. A war of attrition is taking shape, with no end in sight. There remains the possibility—low, but greater than zero—that the war will spread and involve NATO directly, or even involve the use of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.
John M. Owen IV Hedgehog Review
Wars often unsettle and reconfigure politics within and among other countries. This one, so far, has strengthened pro-NATO sentiment and policy in Europe and weakened the populism that has divided the West. But the policies of Hungary’s government and its landslide reelection this past Sunday ensure that the West will remain divided, and that in turn could inhibit NATO and the EU from responding to Russia more vigorously.
John M. Owen IV Miller Center Russia-Ukraine blog
Nearly a year after the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors endorsed a statement unequivocally affirming the freedom of expression and inquiry on Grounds, the school is providing a platform to continue the conversation. While the policy will not change – UVA stands firmly behind its commitment to ideological diversity and expression – a new event challenges University community members to consider what adhering to the commitment might mean to them.
John M. Owen IV UVA Today
Miller Center scholars join Director William Antholis to discuss the destabilizing effects of the invasion.
John M. Owen IV Miller Center Russia-Ukraine blog
Analysts who blame the West for deluded ideological thinking – who do not understand that there really is a transnational contest between democracy and authoritarianism and that it helped cause this war – are misdiagnosing the problem.
John M. Owen IV Miller Center