Biography:Angelo Codevilla

Short description: Italian political philosopher (1943–2021)

Angelo Codevilla
Born	Angelo Maria Codevilla (1943-05-25)May 25, 1943 Voghera, Italy
Died	September 20, 2021(2021-09-20) (aged 78) Tracy, California, U.S.
Education	Rutgers University, New Brunswick (BA) University of Notre Dame (MA) Claremont Graduate University (PhD)
Awards	Churchill Fellowship (1975)
School	International relations theory Western philosophy
Website	University website Hoover website

Angelo Maria Codevilla (May 25, 1943 – September 20, 2021) was an Italian-American professor of international relations at what is now the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University. He served as a U.S. Navy officer, a foreign service officer, and professional staff member of the Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States Senate. Codevilla's books and articles range from French and Italian politics to the thoughts of Machiavelli and Montesquieu to arms control, war, the technology of ballistic missile defenses, and a broad range of international topics. Articles by Codevilla have appeared in Commentary, Foreign Affairs, National Review, and The New Republic. His op-eds have appeared in The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , The American Spectator and The Washington Post . He has also been published in Political Science Reviewer, Intercollegiate Review, and Politica.

Education and career

He graduated from Rutgers University in 1965, having studied natural sciences, languages, and politics. After receiving a Ph.D. in 1973 from Claremont Graduate School, Codevilla began to teach political science. In 1977 he joined the U.S. Foreign Service but quickly moved to Capitol Hill, where he served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He helped to conceive the technology programs that, in 1983, were relabeled the Strategic Defense Initiative. Between 1977 and 1985 he was on the staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He was an aide to Senator Malcolm Wallop, serving on the staff of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence 1977–1985. Meanwhile, he taught political philosophy at Georgetown University, and was a principal on Presidential transition teams for the Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency. In 1980 Codevilla was appointed to the teams preparing the presidential transition for the State Department and the CIA. Throughout his time in government, Codevilla published on intelligence and national security and taught. In 1985 Codevilla returned to full-time academic life as a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was professor of international relations at what is now the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University from 1995 to 2008.

Personal life

Angelo Maria Codevilla was born on May 25, 1943, in Voghera, Italy, son of Angelo (a businessman) and Serena (Almangano) Codevilla. He emigrated to the United States in 1955, and became a US citizen in 1962. He married Ann Marie Blaesser on December 31, 1966. His children are David, Peter, Michael, Elizabeth, and Thomas. He served in the U.S. Naval Reserve 1969–1971, leaving active duty as a lieutenant, junior grade. He received the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Codevilla died in a car accident in Tracy, California, on September 20, 2021, at the age of 78.

Pollard case

While acknowledging that Jonathan Pollard was guilty of espionage, Codevilla publicly objected on procedural and substantive grounds to the sentence given the convicted Israeli spy.

On November 5, 2013, Codevilla wrote to then-President Obama concerning Pollard. He stated, "Others have pointed out that Pollard is the only person ever sentenced to life imprisonment for passing information to an ally, without intent to harm America, a crime which normally carries a sentence of two to four years; and that this disproportionate sentence in violation of a plea agreement was based not on the indictment but on a memorandum that was never shared with the defense. This is not how American Justice is supposed to work." He further stated that his opinion, as those of DCI James Woolsey, former Attorney general Michael Mukasey, and former Senator Dennis DeConcini, is based on a thorough knowledge of the case. Codevilla concluded, "having been intimately acquainted with the materials that Pollard passed and with the 'sources and methods' by which they were gathered, I would be willing to give expert testimony that Pollard is guilty of neither more nor less than what the indictment alleges."

In a contemporaneous interview with the Weekly Standard, Codevilla said that, "The story of the Pollard case is a blot on American justice", and that the life sentence "makes you ashamed to be an American."

Selected publications

• Articles
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2020), "The Original Fascist — From movement to epithet", Claremont Review of Books XX (2), https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/the-original-fascist/ 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2019), European Defense, Hoover Institution, https://www.hoover.org/research/european-defense 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2016), The Rise of Political Correctness, Independent Institute, http://www.independent.org/issues/article.asp?id=8932 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2011), "The Lost Decade — Sixteen years after 9/11, America has neither peace nor victory", Claremont Review of Books XI (4), https://claremontreviewofbooks.com/the-lost-decade/ 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (July–August 2010). "America's Ruling Class — and the Perils of Revolution". The American Spectator. http://spectator.org/articles/39326/americas-ruling-class-and-perils-revolution. 
• Books
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2014). To Make and Keep Peace Among Ourselves and with All Nations. Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press. ISBN 9780817917142. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2010). The ruling class : how they corrupted America and what we can do about it (1st paperback alkali paper ed.). New York: Beaufort Books. ISBN 9780825305580. https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780825305580. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2010). A student's guide to international relations. Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books. ISBN 978-1935191919. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2009). Advice to war presidents : a remedial course in statecraft. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 9780465004836. https://archive.org/details/advicetowarpresi00code. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2009). The character of nations: how politics makes and breaks prosperity, family, and civility (Rev. ed.). New York: Basic Books. ISBN 9780465028009. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (September 11, 2006). Seriousness and Character: The Intellectual History of American Foreign Policy (1 ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300108507. https://books.google.com/books?id=JHz5GgAACAAJ. Retrieved July 5, 2014. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2005). No victory, no peace. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0742550028. 
  • War : ends and means. Washington, DC: Potomac Books. 2005. ISBN 157488610X. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (2000). Between the Alps and a hard place : Switzerland in World War II and moral blackmail today. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing. ISBN 089526353X. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (1997). The character of nations : how politics makes and breaks prosperity, family, and civility (1st ed.). New York: BasicBooks. ISBN 0465082203. https://archive.org/details/characterofnatio00code. 
  • Machiavelli, Niccolò (1997). Principe. translated and edited by Angelo M. Codevilla ; commentary by William B. Allen, Hadley Arkes, Carnes Lord. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300064020. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (1994). American security: back to basics. Stanford, California: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. ISBN 0817955623. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (1992). Informing statecraft: intelligence for a new century. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0029119154. https://archive.org/details/informingstatecr00code. 
  • Seabury, Paul; Codevilla, Angelo M. (1989). War : ends and means. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0465090672. https://archive.org/details/war00paul. 
  • While others build: the commonsense approach to the Strategic Defense Initiative. New York: Free Press. 1988. ISBN 0029056713. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (1988). The cure that may kill: unintended consequences of the INF Treaty. London: Alliance for the Institute for European Defence & Strategic Studies. ISBN 0907967930. 
  • Wallop, Malcolm; Codevilla, Angelo M. (1987). The arms control delusion. San Francisco, Calif.: ICS Press. ISBN 091761691X. https://archive.org/details/armscontroldelus00wall. 
  • Codevilla, Angelo M. (1974). Modern France. LaSalle, Illinois: Open Court. ISBN 0875481507. https://archive.org/details/modernfrance0000code. 

See also

• Soft power
• Smart power
• Missile defense

External links

• Angelo Codevilla profile, Pardee School, Boston U.
• Angelo M. Codevilla C-SPAN index