Michael N. Barnett

Michael N. Barnett serves as University Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at George Washington University, maintaining a full-time faculty position with office location at 1957 E St. NW, Washington, D.C. His scholarly identity spans university-wide interdisciplinary engagement in international relations and political science.

His educational foundation includes:

• Ph.D. from University of Minnesota

Barnett's research critically investigates the intersection of humanitarianism, global governance structures, Middle Eastern politics, and United Nations operations. His work pioneers theoretical frameworks for understanding how international organizations shape world politics while exposing ethical contradictions in humanitarian interventions. Key contributions examine power dynamics in global institutions through historical and contemporary case studies.

He has authored foundational texts including Eyewitness to a Genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda, Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism, and Rules for the World: International Organizations in World Politics (with Martha Finnemore). Current projects analyze systemic transformations: The End of Humanity: An Autopsy of the Present and Future (with Unni Karanukara) explores how securitization and marketization threaten humanitarian practices, while The Spectre of the West (with Janice Stein) argues that the West's foundational belief in progress is collapsing under its own contradictions.