John Mueller Joins the Cato Institute

John Mueller, an Ohio State University faculty member and leading scholar in the fields of political science, international relations, and national security, has joined the Cato Institute as a senior fellow.

"Perhaps no other contemporary scholar has taken on the conventional wisdom in the national security arena with greater finesse and zeal than John Mueller," said Christopher Preble, Vice President for Defense and Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute. "As a senior fellow at Cato, John will be in a strong position to shape the policy debate within Washington and beyond through his counterintuitive arguments and accessible writing that is supported by original research. All of us at Cato are honored to have him as a colleague."

Mueller previously held the Woody Hayes Chair of National Security Studies at Ohio State's Mershon Center for International Security Studies. He continues to be Senior Research Scientist with the Mershon Center and retains his association with the political science department at Ohio State.

"I'm happy to join the Cato Institute, filled as it is with interesting people with unconventional ideas," said Mueller. "It is a rare source of independent thought on a variety of important issues including ones on security, defense, and foreign policy - the areas I will be working in."

Professor Mueller is a top expert on, among other subjects, U.S. homeland security and counterterrorism policy. His last three books have examined how policymakers inflate national security threats at home and abroad. The latest book, Terrorism, Security, and Money: Balancing the Risks, Benefits, and Costs of Homeland Security, co-authored with risk analyst Mark Stewart, uses cost-benefit analysis to ask: "Are the gains in security worth the funds expended?" For the vast majority of U.S. homeland security and counterterrorism policies, the answer to this question is a resounding "no."

Before arriving at Ohio State, Mueller was on the faculty at the University of Rochester for many years and was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, the Cato Institute, the Hoover Institution, and the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo. A prolific author, Mueller has written or edited nineteen books and has been published in every major political science journal. His 2004 book The Remnants of War, was awarded Georgetown University's Lepgold Prize for the best book on international relations in 2004.

His writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere. Mueller has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Hannity and Colmes, Nightly Business Report, 20/20, and NPR's All Things Considered.

Mueller is also a scholar on the history of dance, and held a position in Ohio State University's Department of Dance. He has written an award-winning book on Fred Astaire's dancing and has written scripts for two musicals.