Joshua D. Kertzer

Joshua D. Kertzer

John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Government, Harvard University
Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Government, Harvard University


Joshua D. Kertzer is the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Government, and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Government at Harvard University. His research specializes in the intersection of international security, political psychology, foreign policy, and public opinion. He is the author of Resolve in International Politics (Princeton University Press, 2016) and Abstraction in Experimental Design: Testing the Tradeoffs (Cambridge University Press, 2023), along with articles appearing in a variety of academic journals, including the American Journal of Political Science, Annual Review of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Conflict Management and Peace Science, Foreign Affairs, International Organization, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Politics, and World Politics. His scholarship has received a range of awards, including the International Studies Association’s Karl Deutsch Award, the International Society of Political Psychology’s Alexander George and Jim Sidanius awards, and the American Political Science Association's Merze Tate and Kenneth N. Waltz awards, among others. At Harvard, he teaches classes on American foreign policy, international relations theory, and political psychology in international politics, for which he received Harvard’s Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize for excellence in undergraduate teaching.

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