Carnes Lord
Carnes Lord is a political scientist with broad interests in national and international security and the history of political thought. He retired in 2024 from the faculty of the United States Naval War College, in Newport, RI, where he served for nearly twenty-five years as professor and (from 2006) editor of the quarterly Naval War College Review.
Lord's earlier professional career included periods of teaching as well as service in the federal government. He first joined the government as a Foreign Affairs Officer in the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1974-76. In 1981-84, he was Director of International Communications and Information Policy on the staff of the National Security Council, and in 1989-91 served as Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs. He has taught at Dartmouth College, Yale University, the University of Virginia, Adelphi University, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Lord holds Ph.D. degrees from Yale University (Classics, 1974) and Cornell University (Government, 1972), and a B.A. from Yale University (1966) (summa cum laude). He is a graduate of Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, PA.
He currently resides in northern Virginia with his wife, Maria Lopez-Otin.
For inquiries regarding publications or related work, please contact: carnes.lord@gmail.com
Books
-Recovering Dante: Politics and Philosophy in the Divine Comedy (Meadville, PA: Page Publications, 2025).
-The Modern Prince: What Machiavelli Teaches Us in the Age of Trump, second edition (New York: Encounter Books, 2018).
-The Politics of Aristotle, edited and translated, second edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013).
-Proconsuls: Delegated Political-Military Leadership from Rome to America Today (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).
-Losing Hearts and Minds? Public Diplomacy and Strategic Influence in the Age of Terror (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2006).
-The Modern Prince: What Leaders Need t o Know Now (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2003).
-The Presidency and the Management of National Security (New York: The Free Press, 1988).
-The Politics of Aristotle, edited and translated (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984).
-Education and Culture in the Political Thought of Aristotle (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1982).
-Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Presence in the Asia-Pacific, with Andrew Erickson (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2014).
-China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical
Perspective, with Andrew Erickson and Lyle Goldstein (Annapolis, MD: Naval
Institute Press, 2009).
-Reposturing the Force: U.S. Overseas Presence in the Twenty-first Century,
Newport Paper 26 (Newport, RI: Naval War College Press, 2006).
-Essays on the Foundations of Aristotelian Political Science, with David K
O'Connor (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991).
-Tasso's Dialogues, with Dain A. Trafton (Berkeley: University of California Press,1983)
Edited Volumes
Essays, Articles, and Reviews: Philosophy and Classics
-"Lost in the City," review of John Ma, Polis: A New History of the Ancient City-
State, in Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2025-Winter 2026): 26-27.
-"The Persian Version," review of Paul A. Rahe, Sparta's Third Attic War, in
Claremont Review of Books (Spring 2025): 41-42.
-"Encountering a Philosopher-King," review of Ari Lifschitz, ed., Frederick the
Great's Philosophical Writings, in Law and Liberty, 1 January 2021.
-"Saving Persuasion," review of Aristotle's Art of Rhetoric, translated by Robert C. Bartlett, in Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2019): 91.
-"Digging Up a New Past," Claremont Review of Books (Winter 2013/14): 60-65.
-"Modern Virtue?" review of Mark Blitz, Duty Bound: Responsibility and
American Public Life, in Claremont Review of Books (Winter 2005/06): 50-51.
-Review of Christopher Lynch, Machiavelli's Art of War, in Naval War College
Review (Summer/Autumn 2004): 158-59.
-"Putting 'The Politics' Back in Politics," review of Aristide Tessitore, ed., Aristotle and Modern Politics, in Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2003): 17-18.
-"Thoughts on Strauss and Our Present Discontents," in Kenneth L. Deutsch and
John A. Murley, eds., Leo Strauss, the Straussians, and the American Regime
(Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999), 413-17.
-"Machiavelli's Realism," in Angelo Codevilla, ed., Machiavelli's Prince (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), 114-23.
-"Aristotle and the Idea of Liberal Education," in Josiah Ober and Charles Hedrick, eds., Demokratia: A Conversation on Democracy, Ancient and Modern (Princeton University Press, 1996), 271-88.
-"Allegory in Machiavelli's Mandragola," in Michael Palmer and Thomas L.
Pangle, eds., Political Philosophy and the Human Soul: Essays in Honor of Allan Bloom (Savage, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1995), 149-73.
-Review of Eckart Schütrumpf, Aristoteles: Politik, Vols. I and II, in Classical
Journal (1994): 197-99.
-"Aristotle's Anthropology," in Lord and O'Connor, Essays on the Foundations of Aristotelian Political Science, 49-73.
-"Politics and Education in Aristotle's Politics," in Günther Patzig, ed., Aristoteles' "Politik": Akten des XI. Symposium Aristotelicum (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1990), 202-15.
-"Aristotle," in Joseph P. Cropsey and Leo Strauss, eds., A History of Political
Philosophy, 3rd edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 118-54.
-Translation of Plato's Alcibiades I, in Thomas L. Pangle, ed., The Roots of
Political Philosophy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1987), pp. 175-221.
-Review of M. I. Finley, Ancient History: Evidence and Models, in The American Spectator (August 1986): 41-42.
-"The Intention of Aristotle's Rhetoric," Hermes (1981): 326-39.
-"The Argument of Tasso's Nifo," Italica (1979): 22-45.
-"Aristotle, Menander and the Adelphoi of Terence," Transactions of the American Philological Association (1977): 183-202.
-"Aristotle's History of Poetry," Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974): 195-229.
-Translation of Xenophon's Oeconomicus, in Leo Strauss, Xenophon's Socratic Discourse (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970).
Essays and Articles: Politics and National Security
"The Leverage of Sea Power," special issue of Comparative Strategy in memory of Colin S. Gray (2021), 194-97.
"Public Diplomacy and Psychological Warfare," in Douglas E. Streusand, Norman A. Bailey, and Francis H. Marlo, eds., The Grand Strategy that Won the Cold War: Architecture of Triumph (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2016), 131-46.
"On Military Professionalism and Civilian Control," Joint Force Quarterly (3rd
Quarter 2015): 70-74.
"When Land Powers Look Seaward," with Andrew Erickson and Lyle Goldstein, Proceedings of the US Naval Institute (April 2011): 18-23.
"China Sets Sail," with Andrew Erickson and Lyle Goldstein, The American
Interest 5 (May/June 2010): 27-34.
"China and Maritime Transformations," in Erickson, Goldstein, and Lord, eds., China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective, 426-56.
"Marketing Freedom: Cold War, Public Diplomacy, and Psychological Warfare," in James Jay Carafano and Richard Weitz, Mismanaging Mayhem: How Washington Responds to Crisis (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International.
2008), 46-65.
"Reorganizing for Public Diplomacy," in John Arquilla and Douglas A. Borer, eds., Information Strategy and Warfare: A Guide to Theory and Practice (New York and London: Routledge, 2007), 113-26.
"On the Nature of Strategic Communications," Joint Force Quarterly (3d Quarter 2007): 83-85.
"A Strategic Defense Initiative," The National Interest (Summer 2004): 84-92.
"Psychological-Political Instruments," in Audrey Kurth and James M. Ludes, eds., Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2003), 220-37.
"Leadership and Strategy," Naval War College Review Winter 2001): 139-44.
"A Note on Sun Tzu," Comparative Strategy (October-December 2000): 301-07.
"Rethinking the NSC System," Orbis (Summer 2000): 433-50.
"Crisis (Mis-) Management," Joint Force Quarterly (Summer 1999): 72-77.
"Public Diplomacy: Past and Future," Orbis (Winter 1998): 49-72.
"The Role of the United States in Small Wars," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (1995): 89-100.
"Strategic Engagement: Some Modest Proposals," with Gary J. Schmitt, Comparative Strategy (1994): 253-59.
"American Strategic Culture in Small Wars," Small Wars and Insurgencies (1992): 205-16.
"Second Thoughts on INF?" Global Affairs (Summer 1987): 20-34.
"Rethinking the NSC Role," Comparative Strategy (1987): 241-79.
"Executive Power and Our Security," The National Interest (Spring 1987): 3-13.
"Taking Soviet Defenses Seriously," The Washington Quarterly (Fall 1986): 83-99.
"Verification: Reforming a Theology," The National Interest (Spring 1986): 50-60.
"On the Future of Strategic Forces," Parameters (1986): 24-32.
"American Strategic Culture," Comparative Strategy (1985): 269-93.
"Rethinking On-Site Inspection in U.S. Arms Control Policy," Strategic Review (1985): 45-51.
"Human Rights in a Non-liberal World," in Marc F. Plattner, ed., Human Rights in Our Time (Boulder: Westview Press, 1984), pp. 125-39.
"In Defense of Public Diplomacy," Commentary (April 1984): 42-50.
"The ABM Question," Commentary (May 1980): 31-38.
"Verification and the Future of Arms Control," Strategic Review (1978): 24-32.
Reviews: Politics and National Security
-Review of Daniel Deudney, Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary
Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity, in Naval War College Review (Summer 2023): 169-70.
-"America First," review of Angelo M. Codevilla, America's Rise and Fall Among Nations: Lessons in Statecraft from John Quincy Adams, in Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2022): 21-22.
-"Head of State," review of Daniel J. Mahoney, The Statesman as Thinker: Portraits of Greatness, Courage, and Moderation, in Claremont Review of Books (Spring 2022): 77-78.
-"Art of War," review of Andrew Roberts, Leadership in War: Essential Lessons from Those Who Made History, in Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2020): 47.
-"Divide and Fail," review of Nadia Schadlow, War and the Art of Governance: Consolidating Combat Success into Political Victory, in Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2017): 90-91.
-"Manifest Quagmire," review of Andrew J. Bacevich, America's War for the
Greater Middle East: A Military History, in Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2016): 59-60.
-Review of Chase Untermeyer, Inside Reagan's Navy: The Pentagon Journals, in Naval War College Review (Autumn 2015): 119-20.
-Review of Nicholas J. Cull, The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989, in Presidential Studies Quarterly (December 2010): 798-99.
-"And We're Here to Help You," review of John D. Donahue, The Warping of
Government Work, and Paul C. Light, A Government Ill Executed: The Decline of Federal Service and How to Reverse It, in Claremont Review of Books (Winter 2008/09): 21-23.
-"The Great Triumvirate," review of John O'Sullivan, The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister, in Claremont Review of Books (Summer 2007): 33-34.
-"Dreams of Empire," review of Niall Ferguson, Colossus: The Price of America's Empire, and Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power, in Claremont Review of Books (Fall 2004): 11-12.
-Review of Thierry de Montbrial and Jean Klein, eds., Dictionnaire de Stratégie, in Naval War College Review (Spring 2003): 161-63.
-"The Nelson Touch," review of Edgar Vincent, Nelson: Love and Fame, in
Claremont Review of Books (Winter 2003): 29-30.
-Review of John Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, in Naval War College Review (Autumn 2002): 112-13.
-"To Wage a War of Words," review of Clayton D. Laurie, The Propaganda
Warriors: America's Crusade Against Nazi Germany, in Joint Force Quarterly (Autumn 1996): 109-10.
-"On Violation and Exculpation," review of Gloria Duffy et al., Compliance and the Future of Arms Control, in Strategic Review (1988): 71-74.
-Review of Michael Handel, ed., Strategic and Operational Deception in the Second World War, in Parameters (June 1988): 113-15.
-"Neglected Strategic Sinews," review of Bruce G. Blair, Strategic Command and Control: Redefining the Nuclear Threat, in Strategic Review (1985): 79-84.