Evan Luard
David Evan Trant Luard, most commonly known as Evan Luard, was a British Labour, SDP politician, and a renowned international relations scholar.
Luard was educated at King's College School, Cambridge, Felsted School and King's College, Cambridge where he gained a First in Modern Languages. In 1950, Luard joined the Foreign Service and after learning Chinese he was stationed in Peking from 1952 to 1954. In 1956 he resigned from the diplomatic service in protest at Britain's involvement in the Suez Crisis.
He became a research fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford in 1957 where he was able to research Chinese relations with Britain. He was a Labour councillor on Oxford City Council 1958–61.
Having first contested the seat in 1964, Luard was elected Member of Parliament for Oxford in 1966. He served as the Labour Party MP for Oxford from 1966 to 1970 and again from October 1974 to 1979. He was the only Labour member ever to represent the constituency in its original form. He served as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Foreign Office from 1969 till 1970 and again from 1976 until Labour left power in 1979.
Luard joined the SDP soon after its formation, and contested the 1983 General election for the party in the newly formed constituency of Oxford West and Abingdon. He was de-selected in 1987 in favour of Chris Huhne.
Luard is mainly known for his extensive writings on numerous aspects of international relations. He is also known for his sociological theories including the hierarchy theory. His exhaustive study of war, War in International Society: A Study in International Sociology, was published in Britain in 1986 and by Yale University Press in the United States in 1987. An account of his life and work appeared in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography in 2004.
