Thomas G. Weiss (born 1946) is a distinguished international diplomat and scholar of
international relations and
global governance with special expertise in the politics of the
United Nations, where he himself served in various high-ranking roles. He was named a 2016 Andrew Carnegie Fellow for a project exploring the concept of a world without the United Nations.[1] Since 1998, he has been Presidential Professor at the
Graduate Center of the
City University of New York, and is Director Emeritus of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies.[2] At present, he also is co-chair, Cultural Heritage at Risk Project,
J. Paul Getty Trust; Distinguished Fellow, Global Governance,
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs; Global Eminence Scholar,
Kyung Hee University, Seoul. In his spare time, he is a wood sculptor.[3]
He is "one of the leading experts on the theory and practice of
humanitarian intervention,"[4] and is recognized as an authority on
international organizations and the UN system.[5] Weiss adheres to the
constructivist school, and advocates a position for intergovernmental organizations that goes beyond the
anarchy of inter-state relations. He initiated the UN Intellectual History Project[6] in 1999 to trace the origins and the evolution of key ideas about international economic and social development nurtured under UN auspices.[7] Weiss conceived the "Third United Nations," and directed the research team that popularized the concept of
Responsibility to Protect (R2P). A firm believer in R2P, Weiss has argued in numerous works that a well-grounded interpretation of
sovereignty does not preclude intervention in the face of mass atrocities. His oral history transcript is available on the UN Intellectual History Project website.[8]
After leaving UNCTAD, he became executive director of the International Peace Academy (now the
International Peace Institute), until he left in 1989 to become research professor at
Brown University and associate director of their
Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. He was also executive director of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (
ACUNS) from 1992 and 1998, and co-director of the Humanitarianism and War Project. From 2012 to 2015, he was a Visiting research professor at
SOAS, University of London.
Weiss was director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies from 2001 to 2014. For over forty years he has regularly taught, lectured, consulted on, and conducted research on a wide variety of issues in international relations.[9]
Director of the United Nations Intellectual History Project, with Louis Emmerij and
Richard Jolly, 1999–2010. In addition to overseeing seventeen volumes and 80 oral histories of ideas in the United Nations, the three directors notably introduced the idea that there are "three United Nations."[15]
Research Director of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, 2000–2002. This initiative popularized the concept of the "responsibility to protect," and Weiss co-authored the supplementary volume—which traced the ethics, assessed the operational mechanics, and analyzed the political dimensions of the undertaking—that accompanied the final report of the commission.
Chair of the Academic Council on the United Nations System, 2007–2009.
Editor, Global Governance, 2000–2005.
Director of The Future United Development Systems Project, with Stephen Browne, 2011–2017.
Director of the Wartime United Nations Project, with
Dan Plesch, 2011–2015.
Academic work
Weiss has authored or edited some 60 books and 275 articles and book chapters. His research interests focus primarily on the United Nations,
global governance,
humanitarianism,
human rights, the
Responsibility to Protect doctrine, and the power of ideas in shaping world order. Weiss's books from the 21st century include (most recent editions are listed):
Weiss, Thomas G. and Danielle Zach, eds. (2018). 70 Years of the United Nations in International Affairs: United Nations Virtual Issue, an online compendium of International Affairs, available at
https://academic.oup.com/ia/pages/united_nations
Hoffman, Peter J.; Weiss, Thomas G. (2006), Sword & Salve: Confronting New Wars and Humanitarian Crises, [Rowman & Littlefield],
ISBN978-0742539778.
Weiss, Thomas G. (2004), Military-Civilian Interactions: Humanitarian Crises and the Responsibility to Protect, Second Edition,
Rowman & Littlefield,
ISBN978-0742530171.
Aall, Pamela; Miltenberger, Daniel; Weiss, Thomas G. (2000), Guide to IGOs, NGOs, and the Military in Peace and Relief Operations, [US Institute of Peace],
ISBN978-1929223053.
In November 2016, the semi-annual publication of the entire City University of New York System was devoted to faculty award recipients. "Salute to Scholars" featured him and the award on pp. 56–57, also available at http://www2.cuny.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/page-assets/news/publications/includes/salute-to-scholars/Salute-to-Scholars-Faculty-Awards-2016.pdf.
Thomas G. Weiss and Stephen Browne wrote for MUNPlanet about the challenges that lay ahead the post-2015 development agenda.
Whither Post-2015 UN Development?