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

In Award-Winning Book, UVA Author Contends Democracy Is ‘Wobbling’

“I think everybody’s worried, and it’s not just a worry about the United States,” Owen said. “A lot of our fellow wealthy, mature democracies across the Atlantic are in a similar state. They’re really concerned about the future of constitutional self-government.”

John Owen UVA Today

Polarisation, liberalism and the future US president

At the Estoril Political Forum, University of Virginia Professor John Owen focused on the high level of polarisation in the United States, which has in effect become an almost evenly divided 50:50 country.

John Owen The Irish Catholic

NATO: From Cold War Origins to Modern Challenges

This UVA Speaks podcast features John M. Owen, IV, Ambassador Henry J. and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor, Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics and a Senior Fellow at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. Owen explores NATO's 75-year history, from its Cold War origins to its pivotal role in global security and stability. He discusses how NATO’s mission has adapted, how Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing impact global affairs, and how the war in Ukraine has reshaped the alliance.

John Owen UVA Lifetime Learning

Ill Literacy, Episode 144: The Ecology of Nations (Guest: John M. Owen IV)

Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by John M. Owen IV, Ambassador Henry J. and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Professor of Politics, and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and the Miller Center of Public Affairs, at the University of Virginia, to discuss his new book, The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile World Order. They chat about “ecosystem engineering”, how liberalism may have evolved in ways that are no longer conducive to its own survival, and the ways Owen believes liberalism should be reimagined to better confront the autocratic threat coming from China, Russia, and others.

John Owen The Heartland Institute

The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile World Order with Professor John Owen

In 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor John Owen, Ambassador Henry J. and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Professor of Politics and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. They discussed his new book, ‘The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile World Order’, the United States’ changing foreign policy objectives, and the move from welfare liberalism to open liberalism in the post-war period and beyond.

John Owen The London School of Economics and Political Science

The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile World Order with Professor John Owen | The Ballpark podcast

In 2024 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor John Owen, Ambassador Henry J. and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Professor of Politics, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, and an Academic Visitor at Nuffield College, University of Oxford from January to June 2024. They discussed his new book, ‘The Ecology of Nations: American Democracy in a Fragile World Order’, the United States’ changing foreign policy objectives, and the move from welfare liberalism to open liberalism in the post-war period and beyond.