Biography

I joined the Department in September 2010, after working as Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Leeds and completing my PhD at the University of Warwick. My research has previously been funded by the ESRC and EU, and in 2008 I worked as a British Research Council Fellow at the Library of Congress in Washington DC.

Research Interests

My research broadly focuses on foreign and security policy.  In particular my expertise lies in American, British and Australian foreign policy, especially during the ‘War on Terror’.  I am also interested in critical approaches in International Relations, such as constructivism.  At present, my research falls into five related themes: foreign policy, the ‘War on Terror’, ‘9/11’, popular culture, and intervention.

1) Theorising Foreign Policy: Cultural Embeddedness and Political Possibility

My research attempts two analytical moves, conceptualising foreign policy as culturally embedded discourse and theorising the relationship between foreign policy and political possibility.

Outputs and findings:

a. In ‘Foreign Policy and Political Possibility’, published in the European Journal of International Relations, I argue that the political possibility of foreign policy is contingent upon its construction in thinkable, resonant and ultimately dominant terms.  This article revisits and weaves together the work of Roxanne Doty, Michael Barnett and Ronald Krebs.

b. In a forthcoming monograph, Framing the War on Terror, I argue that foreign policy can be conceptualised as culturally embedded discourse.  Analysing foreign policy as discourse enables two important things.  First, it enables foreign policy to be denaturalised and contested. And second, it enables heterogeneity to be revealed within a coalition.   Recognising that foreign policy is also culturally embedded enables these differences to be understood relative to distinct domestic contexts.

c. Ultimately, I plan to draw these two strands together in order to explore the relationship of political (im)possibility to the cultural (dis)embeddedness of foreign policy.

2) American, British and Australian Foreign Policy during the ‘War on Terror’.

A desire to understanding the ‘War on Terror’ and the Coalition of the Willing is at the heart of my research.  The heterogeneity of the Coalition has been frequently and incorrectly overlooked.  This is important because distinct and divergent foreign policy discourse helped to make the ‘War on Terror’ possible in different contexts.

Outputs and Findings:

a. In my forthcoming book, Framing the War on Terror, I deliver a sustained analysis of American, British and Australian foreign policy from late 2001 to mid 2003.

b. In ‘Howard’s War on Terror’, published in the Australian Journal of Political Science, I argue that narratives of mateship, sacrifice and shared values were central to selling the Australian case for intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.

c. In ‘Blair’s War on Terror’, published in the British Journal of Politics and International Relations, I argue that narratives of rationality, leadership and international community were central to selling the British case for intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.

3) The Events of September 11th, 2001, and the Construction of ‘9/11’

My research into the events of September 11th and ‘9/11’ has attempted two things.  First, my work attempts to better understand the experience of the events for ordinary Americans.  And second, my work analyses and contests the dominant framings of ‘9/11’ put forward by politicians and practitioners.

Outputs and findings:

a. In ‘From September 11th, 2001, to 9/11: From Void to Crisis’, published in International Political Sociology, I retrace the experience of events for ordinary Americans.  I argue that an immediate sense of shock and rupture must be understood against a unique American context and that this experience was incorporated within the subsequent framings of the Bush Administration.

b. In ‘Obama, Foreign Policy Change and The Constraining Legacy of 9/11’, written for the ECPR General Conference 2011, I consider to what extend President Obama has been unable to deliver change due to the dominance of Bush-era framings of the ‘War on Terror’ and ‘9/11’.

c. In response to the shooting of Osama bin Laden, I have contributed to local radio stations BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey, as well as publishing an opinion editorial at E-IR, titled ‘Celebrating the Death of Evil’.  I am likely to continue such contributions during the tenth anniversary of the events of September 11th 2001.

4) Popular Culture and the Construction of Politics, Terrorism and Intervention

Having started my research on the ‘War on Terror’ by focusing on the language of elected representatives and the experiences of ordinary Americans, I have recently turned to consider the role of the media and popular culture.  I have commenced this area of research by focusing on the role of television’s The West Wing in the construction of politics, terrorism and intervention.

Outputs and findings:

a. In ‘Teaching Americans 9/11’, published in Millennium Journal of International Studies, I argue that The West Wing actively taught Americans how to think about September 11th, the nature of the terrorist threat and the appropriate foreign policy response.  In all of these areas, The West Wing reinforced the message of the Bush Administration, further narrowing the space for debate.

b. In ‘Screening Terror on the West Wing’, published in Screening the War on Terror (edited by Phil Hammond), I extend the findings of my earlier paper to consider the role The West Wing played in framing terrorism and counter-terrorism before, during and after 9/11.  The chapter illustrates that the show closely followed and contributed to the political context in which it was written, produced and aired.

c. Building on an earlier opinion editorial, I plan to write an article provisionally titled ‘Screening Hope’, which will look at the role of The West Wing in contributing to the political possibility of the election of President Obama.

5) Theorising intervention(ism)

My work attempting to theorise intervention(ism) adopts a critical approach.  These efforts are tied to the new Centre for international intervention (Cii), directed by Sir Michael Aaronson and Professor Marie Breen-Smyth at the University of Surrey, and will lead to a new research project exploring foreign policy traditions in the United States and Australia.

Outputs:

a. The Centre for international intervention at Surrey attempts to reclaim the term ‘international intervention’ from dominant, militaristic connotations.  This project involves a critique of intervention(ism) in order to create space for alternative forms of intervention and non-intervention.

b. In order to place the interventions of the ‘War on Terror’ in their historical and cultural context, my next major research project will consider particular and enabling foreign policy traditions in the United States and Australia.  By focusing on key historical moments, this project will explore how American Jacksonianism and Australian Traditionalism have helped to enable intervention in the past, to better understand the ongoing possibility of coalition cooperation in the future.

Recent presentations of my research include:

• 'From Ground Zero to Guantanamo: Enduring Exceptionalism', ECPR annual conference, Reykjavik, 24-28 August 2011.
• 'Foreign Policy and Political Possibility', BISA annual conference, Manchester 27-29 April 2011.
• ‘Framing the War on Terror’, ISA annual conference, Montreal, 16-19 March 2011
• ‘Framing the War on Terror: Selling Intervention in Britain and the United States’, BISA US Foreign Policy annual conference, University of Leeds, 13-14 September 2010
• ‘The Klan Gone Medieval: Filling the Post 9-11 Void in NBC’s The West Wing’, Screens of Terror conference, London South Bank University, 10-11 September 2010
• ‘Howard’s War on Terror: A Conceivable, Communicable and Coercive Foreign Policy Discourse’, SDD Seminar, POLIS, Leeds, December 2009
• ‘Understanding 9-11 as a Void in Meaning: From Incomprehensible to Inexplicable’, John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress, Washington DC, 3 July 2008
• ‘Coalition Foreign Policy in the “War on Terror”: A Framework for Analysing Foreign Policy as Culturally Embedded Discourse’, International Studies Association annual conference, San Francisco, 26 March 2008
• ‘Critical Geopolitics: Examining Discursive Construction in the War on Terror’, British International Studies Association annual conference, Robinson College, University of Cambridge, 19 December 2007

I am a member of the International Studies Association and British International Studies Association, including the US Foreign Policy Working Group.

Publications

Books:
• Selling the War on Terror: Foreign Policy Discourses after 9/11, (Routledge, Critical Terrorism Studies Series, 2012) 
• Security: A Critical Analysis, with Lee Jarvis and Oz Hassan, (Palgrave Macmillan 2013)

Journal Articles:
• ‘Foreign Policy and Political Possibility’, European Journal of International Relations, (2012), available on Early View
• ‘Blair’s ‘War on Terror’: Selling Intervention to Middle England’, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 14:1, (2012),  pp.74-95
• ‘When you think of the Taleban, think of the Nazis: Teaching Americans ‘9-11’ in NBC’s the West Wing’, Millennium Journal of International Studies, 40:1, (2011), pp.85-106
• ‘Howard’s ‘War on Terror’: A Conceivable, Communicable and Coercive Foreign Policy Discourse’, Australian Journal of Political Science, 45:4 (2010), pp.643-661
• ‘From September 11th 2001 to 9-11: From Void to Crisis’, International Political Sociology, 3:3 (2009) pp.275-292

Book Chapters:
• ‘The Elusive Essence of Evil’, in Pisoiu, D. (ed.) Arguing Counter-Terrorism (London: Routledge, 2012)
• ‘Screening Terror on the West Wing’, in Hammond, P. (ed.) Screens of Terror: Representations of War and Terrorism in Film and Television after 9/11 (Bury: Abramis, 2011)
• ‘Australian Identity, Interventionism and the “War on Terror”’, with McDonald, M., in Siniver, A. (ed.), International Terrorism Post 9/11: Comparative Dynamics and Responses, (London: Routledge, 2010)

Book Reviews:
• ‘Shocked and Awed: How The War on Terror and Jihad Have Changed the English Language, by Fred Halliday’, book review, Critical Studies on Terrorism, 4:2, (2011), pp.293-295

Opinion Pieces:
• ‘The Obama Doctrine: Intervention after the War on Terror’, E-IR, (2011), available at http://www.e-ir.info/?p=8911
• ‘Celebrating the Death of Evil’, E-IR, (2011), available at http://www.e-ir.info/?p=8591
• Various pieces at Surrey Politics and Cii blogs

Under Review and in Progress:
• Article on Time and 9/11
• Article on strategic culture, Blair’s ghost and the 2010 Leaders Debate
• Article on intervention after the War on Terror
• Article on gender, Angela Merkel and audience reception
• Article on affect and 9/11
• Planning article on the role of television in the election of Barack Obama

Teaching

I teach a variety of modules across first, second and third year undergraduate, as well as MA. This year, I am introducing two new modules: ‘Security Studies’ at Level 2 and ‘American Foreign Policy’ at Level 3.

Teaching 2011-12:

• ‘Introduction to International Relations’ (first year)
• ‘Security Studies’ (second year)
• ‘American Foreign Policy’ (third year)
• ‘American Foreign Policy’ (MA)

Teaching 2010-11:

• ‘Introduction to Politics and International Relations’ (first year)
• ‘Contemporary International History’ (first year)
• ‘Ideas and Identity in the War on Terror’ (new second year module)
• ‘Negotiating Politics’ (third year)
• ‘American Foreign Policy’ (new MA module)
• ‘Key Issues in International Politics’ (MA)
• ‘International Relations Theories’ (MA)

I have previously taught at the Universities of Leeds and Warwick, covering topics such as IR Theory, US Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Analysis.

I am the Student Advisor in the Politics Department, responsible for student advice on academic and pastoral issues.