Richard Kevin Betts (born August 15, 1947) is an American political scientist and international relations scholar who centers on U.S. foreign policy.
He is the Leo A. Shifrin Professor of War and Peace Studies Emeritus in the Department of Political Science, former director of the International Security Policy Program in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and former director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies.
His dissertation, under the direction of Samuel P. Huntington was on the role of military advice in decisions to resort to force, which later became his first book, Soldiers, Statesmen, and Cold War Crises.
Betts taught the introductory course war, peace, and strategy for graduate and undergraduate students for over 25 years.
In 1996, Betts joined the Council on Foreign Relations as the Director of National Security Studies.