Michael I. Handel

Background

Michael I. Handel was born on the 1st of November, 1942 in Haifa, Israel.

Education

Michael Handel graduated summa cum laude from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1967 and received his doctorate from Harvard University seven years later.

Career

Michael Handel began his career in 1974, when he was hired as an assistant professor of international relations at Columbia University, but returned to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shortly thereafter and then taught at a variety of universities on the East Coast, including Harvard. He was a professor of National Security Affairs at the United States Army War College from 1983 to 1990 and advised the United States during the Gulf War, suggesting that the United States forces fool Iraq into expecting a naval assault when in actuality a land attack was planned.

Handel was an authority on the problem of strategic surprise, on the methodology and theoretical aspects of intelligence, and interpreting classic philosophers of war such as Karl von Clausewitz and Niccolo Machiavelli. Handel wrote several books, including Israel's Political-Military Doctrine, that came out in 1973, Weak States in the International System, which appeared in 1981, and The Diplomacy of Surprise: Hitler, Nixon, Sadat, that was published also in 1981. Handel edited a number of writings and contributed to many other books. Moreover, he was a founder and the United States editor of the journal Intelligence and National Security.

Achievements

• Michael Handel was an outstanding scholar and well-known author of books, articles, as well as a contributor to other books about war. He was an expert on strategic theory, nature and operations of war, and the future of warfare.

Works

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• book

  • Masters of War: Classical Strategic Thought

    (This is the first comprehensive study based on a detailed...)

    1996
  • War, Strategy and Intelligence

    (Investigating the logic, conduct, and nature of the war o...)

    1989
  • The Diplomacy of Surprise: Hitler, Nixon, Sadat

    (Today even strong democratic leaders do not hesitate to e...)

    1981
  • Leaders and Intelligence

    (This volume studies the manner in which political leaders...)

    1986
  • Weak States in the International System

    (This work defines weak states and their strengths and wea...)

    1981
  • Strategic and Operational Deception in the Second World War 1987
  • Israel's Political-Military Doctrine 1973
  • Clausewitz and Modern Strategy 1986

Membership

Michael Handel was a member of the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies of the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.

Connections

There is no information about Michael Handel's private life.