Brian Orend is the Director of International Studies, and a Professor of Philosophy, at the University of Waterloo in Canada. His Ph.D. is from Columbia University in New York City. He has taught at Columbia, Waterloo, and the University of Lund in Sweden. He has delivered hundreds of invited lectures around the world.
Orend is an active, award-winning writer and public speaker. He focuses on three topics: 1) war and peace; 2) human rights; and 3) happiness. He is perhaps best-known for his work on “justice after war”, i.e., the ethics of post-war reconstruction.
Orend is the author of five books, with three more forthcoming. His Human Rights: Concept and Context—used as a textbook around the world—was named an “Outstanding Academic Title” by Choice magazine. His most widely-used book is The Morality of War. Praised as “the single most comprehensive and important work on just war for this generation,” it is a required textbook at universities, and military academies, throughout the English-speaking world.
Orend is busy working on an updated, second edition to The Morality of War, due out with Broadview Press in 2013. His other forthcoming titles are: An Introduction to International Studies (Oxford University Press, 2012); and Seizure the Day: Happiness in Spite of Illness.
Orend also writes topical articles for the popular press—such as New York Newsday and The Los Angeles Times—and has been interviewed on radio, TV, and the web. He has work experience outside of academe in both publishing and intellectual property law, and he sustains personal interests in travel, music, art, and sport.