David P. Calleo

American political scientist (1934–2023)

David Patrick Calleo (July 19, 1934 – June 15, 2023) was an American political scientist, based at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where he held the titles of Dean Acheson Professor and University Professor. He served as director of the SAIS European Studies program for more than 40 years, from 1968 through May 2012. Calleo was a noted American theorist on Europe and its future.

David Patrick Calleo was born in Binghamton, New York, on July 19, 1934. He earned undergraduate and doctoral degrees at Yale University, where he also served as President of the Yale Political Union and was a member of Manuscript Society as an undergraduate.

In his 1978 book The German Problem Reconsidered, Calleo offered a revisionist picture of Imperial Germany, in which he argued that the German Empire was not an aggressive power, but instead a victim of the sanctimoniousness and envy of other powers. Calleo wrote that "Imperial Germany was not uniquely aggressive, only uniquely inconvenient. Whatever faults and ambitions the Germans had were amply shared by the other major nations of the modern era".

David Calleo was married to Avis T. Bohlen, former ambassador and arms control expert. She is the daughter of Charles E. Bohlen, who was Ambassador to the Soviet Union. Calleo owned a former farm house on the Italian island of Elba, where he spent his summers researching and hosting friends. Calleo died on June 15, 2023, at the age of 88.