The Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies presents:
The Third Annual Richard K. Betts Lecture on War and Peace
Thursday, April 23, 2026
4:00pm-6:00pm
1512 IAB
Advance Registration Required.
Speakers:
With guest speaker Peter Feaver, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, Director of the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy, Duke University
Hosted by Elizabeth Saunders, Director, Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies; Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science, Columbia University
Moderated by Richard K. Betts, Leo A. Shifrin Professor Emeritus of War and Peace Studies and Special Research Scholar, Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University
Speaker Bio:
Peter D. Feaver (Ph.D., Harvard, 1990) is a Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University. He is Director of the Duke Program in American Grand Strategy and co-PI of the America in the World Consortium. Feaver is author of Thanks for Your Service: The Causes and Consequences of Public Confidence in the Military (Oxford University Press, 2023), Armed Servants: Agency, Oversight, and Civil-Military Relations (Harvard Press, 2003), and Guarding the Guardians: Civilian Control of Nuclear Weapons in the United States (Cornell University Press, 1992). He is co-author: with Christopher Gelpi and Jason Reifler, of Paying the Human Costs of War (Princeton Press, 2009); with Susan Wasiolek and Anne Crossman, of Getting the Best Out of College (Ten Speed Press, 2008, 2nd edition 2012); and with Christopher Gelpi, of Choosing Your Battles: American Civil-Military Relations and the Use of Force (Princeton Press, 2004). He has published numerous other monographs, scholarly articles, book chapters, and policy pieces on grand strategy, American foreign policy, public opinion, nuclear proliferation, civil-military relations, and cybersecurity. Feaver served on the NSC staff under both President Clinton (as a Director for Defense Policy and Arms Control, 1993-1994) and President Bush (as Special Advisor for Strategic Planning and Institutional Reform, 2005-2007). In 2020-21, Feaver was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford University. In 2021, he received the Morris Janowitz Career Achievement Award of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society.
About the Annual Richard K. Betts Lecture on War and Peace:
In recognition of Richard K. Betts’s extraordinary career and enduring contributions to the study of war and peace, nuclear diplomacy, national security and intelligence, and the role of the military in a democratic society, the Saltzman Institute established the Annual Richard K. Betts Lecture on War and Peace on March 31, 2023. The lecture honors his legacy by carrying on his work in scholarship, education, public debate, and national service.
