Michael Barnett is University Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at the George Washington University. His research interests span the Middle East, humanitarianism, global governance, global ethics, and the United Nations.
Areas of Expertise
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, GLOBAL GOVERNANCE, HUMANITARIANISM, AND THE MIDDLE EAST
His most recent books are Global Governance in a World of Change (Cambridge University Press and co-edited with Jon Pevehouse and Kal Raustiala) and Israel and the One State Reality (Cornell University Press and co-edited with Nathan Brown, Marc Lynch, and Shibley Telhami). His current book projects include The End of Humanity (Cambridge University Press, co-authored with Unni Karunakara) Oxford Handbook of International Institutions (co-edited with Duncan Snidal) and Spectres of the West (Oxford University Press and co-authored with Janice Stein).
PUBLICATIONS
Professor Barnett has published extensively on international relations theory, global governance, humanitarian action, and the Middle East. His most recent books include Global Governance; Israel and the One State Reality;The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of the American Jews; Paternalism Beyond Borders; and, most recently, the edited collection Humanitarianism and Human Rights: Worlds of Differences?
RESEARCH
His is currently involved in three major projects. The first is The End of Humanity: Humanitarianism in a Post-Liberal Age (with Unni Karunakara) to be published in 2025 by Cambridge University Press. The book examines how in the 21st century securitization, marketization, and forms of difference are changing what humanitarian is, what it does, and how it does it. The effect is not only the transformation of humanitarianism but also possibly the end of practices of humanity. The second is the Oxford Handbook of International Institutions, co-edited with Duncan Snidal. The third is a co-authored book with Janice Stein, tentatively titled, “The Spectre of the West.” We argue that progress has been central to the West’s self-image and self-presentation, and that the attempt to rescue progress from the jaws of evil help to account for the rise of cosmopolitan institutions. Yet these institutions are filled with the contradictions that constitute the West and at some point the very idea of progress will come to an end — and so, too will the West. We suggest that the end is here.