Department of Politics and International Relations

Research Summary

My research interests lie in the field of US Diplomatic and Foreign Relations in the twentieth century with a specific focus on US national security and the foreing policy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Within the Department of Politics and International Relations I am Director of Distance Learning and responsible for the co-ordination of the MA programmes via Distance Learning.

I have previously held positions in the Defence Studies Department of King’s College London at the Joint Services Command and Staff College; in the American Studies Department at Canterbury Christ Church University; the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Recent and Forthcoming Publications

Book

• Franklin Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy and the Welles Mission. (Palgrave: New York, 2007).
  

Articles and chapters

• International History and International Relations, with Prof. Andrew Williams and Dr Amelia Hadfield, (Routledge: Oxford, 2010) forthcoming.
  
  
• ‘Theodore Roosevelt: Preparedness and Defense’ Companion to Theodore Roosevelt ed. Serge Ricard, (Wiley-Blackwells: Malden MA, 2010).
  
  
• ‘Lord Lothian in Washington’ in Lothian and Anglo-American Relations 1900-1940. Priscilla Roberts (ed.) (Brill: Dordrecht, 2010) forthcoming.
  
  
• 'Lord Lothian’s Ambassadorship to Washington August 1939-December 1940' in British Embassy in Washington between 1939 and 1974. John Young, Saul Kelly, and Micheal Hopkins (eds.) ( Palgrave: NY & Basingstoke, 2009.)
  
  
  
• ‘An Abortive Special Relationship? - US-Russian Relations in the Post Cold War World’, with Dr Alex Marshall, in “Allies and Clients: America’s ‘Special Relationships’”. John Dumbrell and Axel Schafer (eds.), (Routledge: Oxford 2009).
  
  
• 'Under the Influence of Mahan: Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and their Understanding of American National Interest', Diplomacy and Statecraft, Vol. 19:4 2008. pp.732-745
  
  
• 'Prescription and Remedy: Lothian’s influence upon Anglo-American relations during the Phony War' in The Round Table – The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs 2 2007.
   
• 'The United States Security Dilemma – a Nation at War', in My US: Views on the US National Security and Foreign Policy, Mireille Radoi (ed.) (Tritonic: Bucharest and Washington: State Department publications, 2007)
  

I am one of the founding editors of Argentia, the academic newsletter of BISA’s US Foreign Policy Group.

Current Research

I have a number of ongoing research projects reflecting my research interests.

• A New Vision for International Relations: Explaining the Philosophical Foundations of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration’s Foreign Policy in Post-War Planning. This is the working title to a major research project currently being undertaken looking at the Foreign Policy thinking in relation to Post-War planning undertaken during the entirety of the administration and not just during the Second World War. This project involves considerable primary research; a number of grant applications to institutions in the UK and the US; a series of conference papers; articles in referred journals and in the mid-term a published volume, as well as providing the opportunity to develop new teaching opportunities and supervision of PhD students.
   
• International History and International Relations: I am currently drafting my chapters on “Peace”, “Revolution” and “Political Violence” for this co-authored volume with Routledge. The work is titled “International History and International Relations” and the co-authors Prof. Andrew Williams (St Andrews) and Dr Amelia Hadfield (University of Kent). The volume addresses the value to scholars and students of cross pollinating the disciplines of International Relations and International History.
  
  
• The American Embassy in London 1937-2008: The Embassy will move from its current location in Grosvenor Square within the next few years and this project, co-authored with Dr Alison Holmes (Yale University), will analyse the impact of the institution and its primary occupants upon Anglo-American Relations and International History more broadly. The project, which includes interviews with all the living ambassadors, will produce a number of outputs; a book proposal is currently under review; and panels at two international conferences are being prepared for 2010. Additionally, colleagues at the Embassy are keen to develop learning materials to support understanding of the United States and the Embassy.
   
• Professionalism in Academic Practice - the Case of International Relations: A paper working to explore the increasingly contentious notion of Professionalism in Academia is being prepared and co-authored with colleagues at Kings’ College London, Sharon Markless and Simon Lygo-Baker. It will lead to conference presentations and a future publication in 2010.
   
• Presidential Peacemaking in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries: my longer term plans centre of a project focusing upon American conceptions of war and peace with particular attention being paid to the field of presidential peacemaking at the end of the First and Second World Wars and at the end of the Cold War. With a view to applying for a large research grant and taking on PhD students as research assistants, this project will allow for collaborative research and teaching in the future.

Recent Research Activities

In recent years I have attended and presented at a variety of academic conferences on both sides of the Atlantic.

• Conference Paper at Transatlantic Studies Association conference, Canterbury Christ Church University, July 2009 ‘Presidential Manoeuvres in the Dark: TR & FDR: internationalists negotiating with isolationist publics’
• External Presentation, Research Paper delivered to School of History at University of Nottingham, 10th March 2009
• External Presentation, Research Paper delivered at University Research Colloquium, University of Hertfordshire ,13th February 2009
• External Lecture, Lecture on UN/US Relations, Irish Defence Academy, The Curragh  27th February 2009
• Chair/discussant, The Foreign Policy Prospects of the New Administration, inc Prof. Robert Jervis, Prof. Mick Cox, Prof. Tony Smith at ISA New York February 2009
• Invited participant of Active Learning in International Affairs (ALISA) Workshop at ISA New York February 2009.
• External Presentation, Research Paper delivered at University of East Anglia, 10th February 2009
• External Lecture, Lecture on the United Nations to the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the UK Defence Academy, 4th February 2009
• Chair/commentator at United States Foreign Policy Group conference, on panel on US Foreign Policy Under Bush, ISA/LSE, London 19th September 2008.
• Chair/commentator at Canadian Studies Association conference, Canada House, London 11th July 2008.
• 2 Conference Papers delivered at the Transatlantic Studies Association Conference, Dundee, Scotland July 7th-10th 2008 Papers entitled “‘Anti-Imperial Imperialists’ or ‘Imperial Anti-Imperialists’? The Two Presidents Roosevelt and the Concept of Empire” and “Lothian as Wartime US Ambassador: Strategies for Success”
• Convened panel and delivered paper at Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Columbus OH, June 2008. Paper entitled The Roosevelt Administrations’ conception of US National Interest during the Phony War: Pre-war Postwar planning.
• External Lecture at the Institute of International Studies University of California, Berkeley 3rd April 2008 entitled "A Special Relationship": National Security inUnited States-Russian Relations
• Conference Paper at International Studies Association Conference, San Francisco, CA March 2008 entitled “Expressions of the National Interest in US-Russian Relations since the end of the Cold War.”

I maintain memberships of a number of leading academic groups including: BISA’s US Foreign Policy Group; the International Studies Association (ISA) and its subgroups Diplomatic Studies, International Security Studies and Foreign Policy Analysis; the American Politics Group; the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations and the Transatlantic Studies Association.

I am of Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and between 2007-2008 was a Fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA), at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study.

In early 2006 I was a Fulbright Fellow selected alongside 17 other international academics and policymakers to spend two months in the United States on a programme entitled  “US National Security: US National Security Policymaking in a Post 9/11 World”, run by the United States Department of State Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and Branch for the Study of the United States.

Teaching and Supervision

I have over ten years of experience teaching in Higher Education in the United Kingdom, and am committed to my ongoing professional career development in academic practice.

• Diploma in Academic Practice (DIPAP) King’s Institute of Learning and Teaching (KILT) 2009.
• Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) HEA Approved. King’s Institute of Learning and Teaching (KILT), pass with Merit 2006.

My own taught modules include:

• 'The Ascent to Pre-eminence: The United States' emergence as a Global Power 1898-1948' – (MA). This MA module addresses both conceptually and historically the emergence of the United States as a global power by 1948 from being a continental power at the end of the 19th century. Beginning with the Spanish-American War, this module addresses Washington’s relations with the world through the experiences of the First and Second World Wars, and culminates once the Cold War becomes the dominant ethos in Washington.
• The Modern American Presidency 1945-2000 – (MA). This course considers differing analytical approaches to the study of the Presidency alongside the narrative of the different administrations since the end of the Second World War, with a particular emphasis on presidential foreign policy making.
• “From Rough Riders to Kosovo” – Military interventions in the American Century – (Year3/MA). This module examines the rationale behind ‘sending in the marines’ with a conceptual background providing the base line for the students to explore specific case studies, such as intervention in the Spanish-American War, the Korea crisis, through Vietnam, to Somalia, and Kosovo, thus examining the evolving concept of US National Security and the rationale for military action.
• “For Freedom” - The Era of Franklin D Roosevelt – (MA). With clear links to my own research agenda and running from 1914-1952, this module provides an opportunity for students to understand the importance of Franklin Roosevelt diplomacy, the antecedents of his political beliefs and his ability to face down the challenges of his era at home and abroad.
• National Interest, Military Interventionism and Legitimacy in IR – (MA) Reflecting best practice in research led teaching, this module will investigate the relationship between contested notions of national interest, military intervention and legitimacy in historical and contemporary International Relations.
• International Organisations: The UN System (Year 3). This course presents students with the important role international organisations play in the modern world. By focusing on the United Nations, and providing a historical context to the wider UN system through a political analysis of the Charter, the course provided an understanding of the relevance and impact of the UN system in global politics.
• International History and International Relations (Year 1) – This module has a dual purpose: to consider the use of ‘History’ in contemporary international relations, while also introducing the fundamental conceptual approaches and key schools of thought within international relations.

Supervision

I would welcome the opportunity to supervise PhD Students in areas relating to my own research interest including:

• The Foreign Policy of the United States since 1898
• The Anglo-American relationship during the Twentieth Century
• US Presidential Politics from 1933 to the present day
• The Era of Franklin D Roosevelt in International Relations
• New World Orders of the Twentieth Century including the Origins of the United Nations