Bruce Gilley

Bruce Gilley (born July 21, 1966) is a Canadian-American professor of political science and director of the PhD program in Public Affairs and Policy at the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. He is the founder and president of the Oregon Association of Scholars, member of the Heterodox Academy and founding signatory of the Oregon Academic Faculty Pledge on Freedom. He became an associate professor in 2008 at the Department of Political Science of the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. He was granted academic tenure in 2011 and promoted to full professor in 2016.

Gilley's research centers on comparative and international politics and public policy. His work covers issues as diverse as democracy, climate change, political legitimacy, and international conflict. He is a specialist on the politics of China and Asia. The article was controversial both for its argument and for its subsequent withdrawal, and resulted in a debate about academic standards and peer review. Fifteen members of the journal's board resigned over the publishing of the paper. Critics described the article as low-quality and said that it was published, over the objections of reviewers, and as a form of academic clickbait. then later in its Summer 2018 issue. NAS' own editor wrote that "serious threats of violence against the editor led the journal to withdraw the article" and that Chomsky had "rallied to his [Gilley's] defense".

When asked if it would be ethical to publish a paper making a case for genocide, Gilley said, "I think everyone would agree, [genocide] is a moral wrong" but that he did not believe colonialism was a moral wrong.

In the spring of 2022, Gilley responded to many of his critics in a second article entitled "The Case for Colonialism: A Response to My Critics". In 2023, he followed this with a full-length book, The Case for Colonialism, published by New English Press.

The Last Imperialist Gilley's biography of Sir Alan Burns, entitled The Last Imperialist: Sir Alan Burns's Epic Defense of the British Empire, was withdrawn from publishing by Rowman & Littlefield after J. Moufawad-Paul started a petition, which gained more than 1,000 signatories, saying the author espoused a "pro-colonial" and "white nationalist" perspective. Gilley defended the book by saying it had passed a peer-review procedure and was endorsed by historians Tirthankar Roy and Jeremy Black; Roy confirmed that it had been peer-reviewed and that he had endorsed it and stated that "hat it could be an apology for empires ... never crossed my mind, I do not think this book is one".

Political views Gilley describes himself as a "classical liberal" and "an independent voter".

Hong Kong Gilley's views about colonialism were strongly influenced by his years as a journalist when he worked in Hong Kong. During his stay, the British transferred their Colony of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China (PRC) on 1 July 1997. The tremendous fear among the population of Hong Kong prior to the transfer of power to China in 1997 made a big impression on him.

Memberships and awards Gilley is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Democracy and the Journal of Contemporary China. Furthermore, Gilley is the chapter president of the Oregon Association of Scholars, the state chapter of the National Association of Scholars, member of the Heterodox Academy and founding signatory of the Oregon Academic Faculty Pledge on Freedom. Model Rebels: The Rise and Fall of China's Richest Village. University of California Press, 2001. China's New Rulers: The Secret Files. New York Review of Books, New York, 2003. (With Andrew Nathan) China's Democratic Future: How It Will Happen and Where It Will Lead. Columbia University Press, 2004. The Right to Rule: How States Win and Lose Legitimacy. Columbia University Press, 2009. The Nature of Asian Politics. Cambridge University Press, 2014. The Last Imperialist: Sir Alan Burns's Epic Defense of the British Empire. Regnery Gateway, 2021. In Defense of German Colonialism: And How Its Critics Empowered Nazis, Communists, and the Enemies of the West. Regnery Gateway, 2022. The Case for Colonialism. New English Review Press, 2023.

Edited books Middle Powers and the Rise of China. Georgetown University Press, Washington DC, 2014. (With Andrew O'Neil) Political Change in China: Comparisons With Taiwan. Lynne Rienner, Boulder, 2008. (With Larry Diamond) Asia's Giants: Comparing China and India. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2005. (With Edward Friedman)

Articles "Against the Concept of Ethnic Conflict", Third World Quarterly. 25 (6): 1155–1166. doi:10.1080/0143659042000256959. Archived from the original on January 20, 2018. "The Case for Colonialism", Third World Quarterly, 2017. (Republished in Academic Questions, June 2018, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 167–185. ) The Case For Colonialism In The Middle East, A Hoover Institution essay from the caravan notebook, August 2020. "The Case for Colonialism: A Response to My Critics", Academic Questions, Spring 2022. "King Hochschild’s Hoax", The American Conservative, April 17, 2023. The Ghost Still Haunts: Adam Hochschild responds to Bruce Gilley, who follows in kind., The American Conservative, May 29, 2023.