Michael Desch

Political Science

Office
2026 Jenkins and Nanovic Halls
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone
574-631-2792
Email
mdesch@nd.edu
Website

Professor of Political Science,
Director, Notre Dame International Security Center

  • American foreign policy
  • International relations
  • International security

Video

Desch’s Latest News

Desch in the News

A U.S. Marine lost his dog tag in the Vietnam war. A tour group just found it.

Former U.S. senator from Virginia and former secretary of the Navy, Jim Webb, took Notre Dame students late last year on an 11-day tour of Vietnam based on his own war experiences. Webb was a platoon commander and first lieutenant in the war, and now is a distinguished fellow at the Notre Dame International Security Center. Michael Desch, international relations professor at the University of Notre Dame, was also with Webb leading the tour.

Vietnam veteran's dog tag found in rice field, returned to family 57 years later: 'Means the world'

In October 2022, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and Notre Dame Professor Michael Desch took a group of students to visit the province. While exploring near an airstrip used by the U.S. military, a villager approached them and said he had six dog tags that were found plowing rice fields over the years.

Vietnam veteran's dog tags returned to family 57 years later

Video Audio

The Marine lost his dog tag while serving near Da Nang Province in 1966. It's where former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and Notre Dame Professor Michael Desch took a group of students in October of last year. While exploring near an airstrip Americans had used, a villager approached them.

How Russian Tanks Captured by Ukraine Are Helping the Fight Against Putin

Michael Desch, director of the Notre Dame International Security Center, said he did not think Ukraine's recent success in the Kharkiv region was due to any difference in tanks or other armored vehicles.

Biden’s UN balancing act: Condemning war while advocating broad agenda

With his vision of the democracy-autocracy struggle and specifically, the war in Ukraine, “Biden is speaking and acting with a high degree of moral certainty that we are on the side of the angels,” says Michael Desch, a professor of international relations at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and founding director of the university’s International Security Center.

Ukrainian forces are stepping up efforts to retake Kherson

Video

Features interview with Michael Desch, Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations and Brian and Jeannelle Brady Family Director of the Notre Dame International Security Center. (starts at 9:13).

War is a choice, not a trap: The right lessons from Thucydides

Written by Michael Desch, Brian and Jeannelle Brady Family Director of the Notre Dame International Security Center (NDISC) and Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations. 

Biden’s soft-power policy faces reality of Xi-Putin big-power world

“Big-power politics is back in a big way. It’s not a reality President Biden can wish away or ignore,” says Michael Desch, a professor of international relations at the University of Notre Dame and founding director of the university’s International Security Center. 

The rehabilitation of Trump national security officials says a lot about Washington

“There is a very narrow range of acceptable opinion, and if you’re within it you can weather a lot. Both Pottinger and O’Brien in many respects are inside the Beltway consensus on the big issues of the day,” said Michael Desch, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame.

What Comes Next? A Lesson from Saigon

Michael C. Desch is the Packey J. Dee Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Notre Dame International Security Center.

Biden is building anti-China alliance, what's China's response?

Audio

Host Zhao Ying is joined by Michael Desch, Director of the Notre Dame International Security Center, Xia Yafeng, Professor of History at Long Island University, Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics and American Studies at Birmingham University, and Professor Zha Daojiong from School of International Studies, Peking University.

Fact check: Claims that VP Kamala Harris refused to salute the military are missing context

Michael Desch, a professor of political science and the director of the Notre Dame International Security Center, told USA TODAY that until President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, "it was not common for the president, or other Cabinet officials, but especially the president, to return hand salutes."

Beware entanglements? ‘Realists’ fret over Biden foreign policy.

“I wish he’d go with his Joe Biden self who was skeptical of the Afghanistan surge in the Obama administration,” says Michael Desch, professor of international relations and director of Notre Dame International Security Center in Indiana.