Background

David A. Welch is CIGI chair of global security at the Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA). He is also a professor of political science at the University of Waterloo, and has received three major teaching awards in the last two years.

Dr. Welch is an accomplished author. Currently, he is completing a book on the Vietnam War and will subsequently begin a major project on security theory.  He recently edited a volume entitled Japan as a ‘Normal Country’? A Nation in Search of Its Place in the World. His other books include: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived (2009), which he co-authored with James G. Blight and janet M. Lang; The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Concise History (2007), co-authored with Don Munton;  Painful Choices: A Theory of Foreign Policy Change (2005), which was the inaugural winner of the International Studies Association ISSS Book Award for the best book published in 2005 or 2006; Decisions, Decisions: The Art of Effective Decision-Making (2001); Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis (1998), which he co-edited with James G. Blight; Justice and the Genesis of War (1993), which earned him the 1994 Edgar S. Furniss Award for an Outstanding Contribution to National Security Studies; On the Brink: Americans and Soviets Reexamine the Cuban Missile Crisis (1st ed. 1989; 2nd ed. 1990); and Cuba on the Brink: Castro, The Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse (1st ed. 1993; 2nd ed. 2002). 

He is also widely published in international journals. Dr. Welch's articles have appeared in Asian Perspective, Ethics and International Affairs, Foreign Affairs, The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Intelligence and National Security, International Security, International Journal, International Studies Quarterly, The Journal of Conflict Resolution, The Mershon International Studies Review, The Review of International Studies and Security Studies. He earned his A.M. and PhD from Harvard University, and his BA (with Highest Distinction) from Trinity College, University of Toronto.