Professor appointed as U.N. adviser

As he dreams of new ways to preserve international peace from the 38th floor of United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, University professor Michael Doyle may draw on memories from his trips to El Salvador and Cambodia.

In these "vulnerable populations," Doyle observed soldiers and civilians from different countries setting aside their national idiosycracies and cooperating peacefully.

Doyle — who is director of the Center for International Studies and professor of politics and international affairs at the Wilson School — was recently appointed as special adviser to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Doyle's colleagues consider him both a philosopher and a practical problem-solver.

"He's a specialist in political philosophy and international relations; an erudite scholar but someone with great concern about real world politics," University politics professor Fred Greenstein said. "He writes on Kant, Machiavelli and fifth century Greek political philosophies of Thucydides while considering things related to international affairs and how the U.N. figures in."

Similarly, Doyle claims to have a two-fold vision, both philosophical and practical: to inspire international peace and to mobilize nation-states, corporations, individuals and international organizations to aid one another in development and peacekeeping.

Doyle said he considers the United Nations to be the ideal arena for his vision. "Given a world of great national diversity," he said, "it's absolutely essential to have at least one organization with a universal scope and a general mandate to address international cooperation, and the U.N. is that institution."

Doyle said he has had a long-term interest in international peacekeeping that began during his undergraduate and graduate years at Harvard University, where he studied international law and organization.

Since Harvard, Doyle's activities have included working for think tanks, traveling and serving as vice president of the International Peace Academy.

In his books such as "Empires" and in his classes, Doyle has shared the knowledge that he has amassed through his experiences.

"Ever since I came to Princeton in 1977, I've been teaching courses on topics like world politics and international organization, and for the past three or four years, I've been teaching an undergraduate and a graduate seminar on peacekeeping," he said.

Doyle said he has enjoyed interacting with his former students even outside the classroom.

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"One of the most pleasant things has been running into students who took my courses who are now ambassadors," he said.

Doyle also said that several fellow University professors in his field — including Richard Falk, Atul Kohli, Peter Kenen and Leon Gordenker — have worked or are currently working with the United Nations.

Doyle said his responsibilities as U.N. adviser will bring him closer to fulfilling his philosophical and practical vision for world peace.

"First, I am helping with the coordination of a global compact that is a partnership between corporations, the U.N., unions and human rights groups, working together to fulfill the U.N.'s basic purposes," he said.

"Secondly, I'll be helping the secretary general define a road map and design some practical policies to get us to our very ambitious goal of reducing the level of poverty to half of its current proportion by the year 2015," Doyle added.

Wilson School professor Stanley Katz said Doyle is an ideal person for his new position.

"As his scholarship has developed he's become an expert on U.N. issues such as peacekeeping and relations between different sections of the world," Katz said.

"These are things that have not been a priority for other political scientists, but he's been one who has had the convictions to stick with them," he added. "He's been right all along, and Annan knows this."

Doyle said he is already looking ahead to the time when he returns to Princeton to share with students the knowledge and experiences he will gain working with the United Nations and Annan.

"This is an immense thrill, an honor and a genuine privilege," Doyle said. "I look forward to making a contribution to addressing these real global problems, to learning a lot and to coming back and sharing with my students at Princeton."