IDI: Lord Alderdice Offers His Reflections on the Passing of Joe Montville

 

IDI members mourn the loss of international relations scholar Joseph V. Montville.

From Lord Alderdice:

I was saddened to learn today of the death of Joe Montville, a joint author with IDI founder Vamik Volkan of an important 2-volume work on the theory and practice of international relations.

I first met Joe in the late 1980s in Belfast where he was staying with a mutual friend, Bob Myers, the US Consul General.  They were both delightful people and deeply committed to peace.  I immediately took to Joe, as most people did, and I greatly appreciated him introducing me to the work of Vamik Volkan.  He, Vamik and Demetrios Julius subsequently published The Psychodynamics of International Relations (1990/1991) which is still worth reading.  Joe made significant contributions to the theory and practice of peace-building and his introduction to Vamik resulted in a friendship for which I was always grateful and that happily continues to this day.

Joe’s death is a real loss, but he leaves behind a rich legacy of lives and countries influenced for the better.