Edward Azar was a professor of government and politics. He studied International Relations at the graduate level at Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 where he got his Ph.D. He taught at the University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina

Chartered in 1789, the University of North Carolina was one of the first public universities in the United States and the only one to graduate students in the eighteenth century...

, Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

 and San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...

. Azar developed the theory of protracted social conflict

Protracted social conflict

Protracted social conflict is a technical term in a theory developed by Edward Azar. It generally refers to conflicts described by other researchers as protracted or intractable, i.e. as complex, severe, commonly enduring, and often violent....

. He was head of the Centre for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland, College Park

University of Maryland, College Park

The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...

from 1981 to 1990.

He died of cancer in 1991 at the age of 53.