Shlomo Avineri

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Shlomo Avineri is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Avineri has written extensively in the history of political philosophy, especially on the political thought of Marx, Hegel, and on the early Zionist political theories of Moses Hess and Theodor Herzl. He also wrote numerous books and articles on Middle Eastern affairs and international affairs

Professor Avineri contributed in revising Hegel's political thought showing Hegels pluralism, he criticized Karl Popper's theories about Hegel in which he denounced Hegel as an apologist of state power and precursor of 20th century totalitarianism. Professor Avineri was also invlolved with the debate over the collapse of the Soviet Union when he argued that it was the pre-capitalist structure of 1917 Russia, as well as the strong authoritarian traditions of the Russian state and its weak civil society, which pushed the Soviet revolution towards its repressive development. Others argued that the Soviet Union's numerous internal failings and subsequent collapse were a direct result of the practical failings of Marxism. Most Marxists on the contrary claim that it was precisely the abandonment of Marxism in the Soviet Union that led to its demise.

Professor Avineri has also held many public services. He served as Director of Eshkol Research Institute (1971-74); Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences (1974-76); Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1976-77); and Director of the Institute for European Studies (1997 to present). Professor Avineri has had numerous visiting appointments including Yale University; Wesleyan University; Australian National University; Cornell University; University of California; Queen's College; and Oxford. He has been a visiting scholar at the Wilson Center and Brookings Institute in Washington, DC and at the Institute of World Economics and International Relations in Moscow. Professor Avineri served as Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1975-77. He also headed the Israeli delegation to the UNESCO General Assembly and in 1979 he was a member of the joint Egyptian-Israeli commission that drafted the Cultural and Scientific Agreement between the two countries.

Professor Avineri is the recipient of many honors and awards including a British Council Scholarship (1961); Rubin Prize in the Social Sciences (1968); Naphtali Prize for the study of Hegel (1977); Present Tense Award for the Study of Zionism (1982); and Israel Prize (1996).