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EDUCATION

PhD in Public Policy, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, 1999

SPECIALIZATIONS

US National Security, Presidential Decision Making, East Asian International Relations, International Security

BIOGRAPHY

William Newmann received his PhD in Public Policy from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh in 1999. He earned an MA in Political Science from Drew University in 1985 and a BA Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. He joined the Political Science Department at VCU in 1992.

His first book, Managing National Security Policy examined decisions on nuclear strategy and arms control during the Carter, GHW Bush, and Reagan administrations. His latest book, Isolation and Engagement, focuses on presidential decision making on China and Taiwan during the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. 

He is also completing his grand tour of presidential libraries.  He has done research at the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, and Clinton presidential libraries.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Books:

• Isolation and Engagement: Presidential Decision Making on China from Kennedy, to Nixon (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, July 2022)
• Managing National Security Policy: The President and the Process (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, July 2003)
• Chinese translation published by the Taiwan Ministry of National Defense, 2008
• Paperback edition published by University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013

Peer-reviewed articles:

• “Searching for the Right Balance? Managing Foreign Policy Decisions under Eisenhower and Kennedy,” Congress and the Presidency 42, Issue 2 (June 2015): 119-146.
• “Kennedy, Johnson, and Policy toward China: Testing the Importance of the President in Foreign Policy Decision Making,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 44, no. 4 (December 2014): 640-672.
• “Persuasion-Bargaining and Institutions in an Organized Anarchy: Clinton Administration Decisions on China, 1993-1994,” American Review of Public Administration 43, Issue 3 (May 2013): 347 - 367.
• “Hegemonic Disruption: The Asymmetric Challenge to US Leadership,” Strategic Studies Quarterly 4, No. 3 (Fall 2011):  67-101.
• “The Structures of National Security Decision Making: Leadership, Institutions, and Politics in the Carter, Reagan, and GHW Bush Years,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 34, no. 2 (June 2004): 272-307.
• “Reorganizing for National Security and Homeland Security,” Public Administration Review 62, Special Issue (September 2002): 126-137.
• "Causes of Change in National Security Processes: Carter, Reagan, and Bush Decision Making on Arms Control," Presidential Studies Quarterly 31, no. 1 (March 2001): 69-103.
• "Active Engagement of the Intro. IR Student: A Simulation Approach," (with Judyth L. Twigg), PS: Political Science and Politics 33, no. 4 (December 2000): 835-842.
• "Foreign Policy Decision Making, Garbage Cans, and Policy Shifts: The Eisenhower Administration and the 'Chances for Peace' Speech," American Review of Public Administration 28, no. 2 (June 1998): 187-212.

Peer-reviewed Book Chapter

“Beyond the Standard Interpretation of George W. Bush’s National Security Policy: Decision Making on North Korea,” in The George W. Bush Presidency: Volume III: Foreign Policy, Meena Bose and Paul Fritz, eds. (Nova Sciences, 2016), Chapter 10, pp. 131-144. 

Invited Articles

“A Brief Introduction to Theories of International Political Economy,” Genocide Studies International 10, No. 1 (Spring 2016): 7-26.

Book Chapters:

• "Intervention in the New World Order: United States Use of Force in Latin America and the Persian Gulf," in Regional Conflicts: The Challenge to US-Russian Cooperation, James E. Goodby, ed., (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 1995, 132-156.
• "History Accelerates: The Diplomacy of Cooperation and Fragmentation," in The Limited Partnership: Building a Russian-US Security Community, James E. Goodby and Benoit Morel, eds., (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 1993, 25-54.
• "Building a Eurasian-Atlantic Community: Cooperative Management of the Military Transition," (with Judyth L. Twigg), in The Limited Partnership, Goodby and Morel, eds., 224-248.
• "Some Limits on Cooperation and Transparency: Operational Security and the Use of Force," in The Limited Partnership, Goodby and Morel, eds., 289-305. 

Courses (current syllabi available through WEBSITE)

• Political Science 105: International Relations (INTL 105)
• Political Science 308: U.S. Presidency
• Political Science 355: Asian Governments and Politics (INTL 355)
• Political Science 361: Issues in World Politics (INTL 361)
• Political Science 362: International Organizations and Institutions (INTL 362)
• Political Science 363: U.S. Foreign Policy (INTL 363)
• Political Science 365: International Political Economy (INTL 365)
• Political Science 368 Comparative National Security Policy (INTL 468)
• Political Science 369 US National Security
• Political Science 385 International Security
• Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness 301: Terrorism (POLI 367)

CURRICULUM VITAE

WEBSITE