As we move further into the 21st century, major global events and the changing nature of the world compel us to revise our understanding of the past and more closely examine the present in order to better prepare for the future.

The Department of International Studies was established in 2018 to pursue a deeper understanding of global affairs and, where appropriate, to extend enquiry into applied social science and policy. The department embraces theoretically and empirically driven interdisciplinary approaches to international studies.

Our department research showcases expertise spanning the European Union, Africa, South East Asia, Oceania, the Americas and Asia, in the diverse fields of:

• international and global political economy
• peace and state-building
• critical security studies
• post-structural approaches to international relations
• development studies
• international business
• international communication
• soft power, propaganda studies and political ideology
• social and cultural change
• Cold War international history and intelligence studies
• Ethnic minorities

Our academic staff have published in Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Palgrave Macmillan, along with leading international journals such as the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Common Market Studies, Third World Quarterly, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Global Society, Peace Review, European Security, Media International Australia, The Pacific Review and Journal of Contemporary Asia.

Research Highlights

Notable recent achievements or ongoing projects of the department include:

• Dr Alessandra Cappelletti’s monograph ‘Socio-Economic Development in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region – Disparities and Power Struggle in China’s North-West’, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2020.
• Dr Michael Connors and Ukrist Pathmanand’s co-edited and translated book, ‘Translating Thai Politics: Monarchy, Democracy and the Supra-constitution’ is coming out in early 2021, published by the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies Press.
• Professor Adam Cross was awarded the prestigious 2017 Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) Decade Award for his co-authored paper ‘The Determinants of Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investment’. The award is given to an article considered one of the most influential in its field in the last decade.
• Dr Evans Fanoulis co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Critical European Studies, published by Routledge in 2020. His monograph ‘The Democratic Quality of European Security and Defence Policy’, was published by Routledge in 2017.
• Dr Stephen Long published an article on Anglo-American psychological warfare in Albania in the 1950s in the journal Intelligence and National Security in 2020. His monograph, The CIA and the Soviet Bloc, was published by I.B. Tauris in 2014.
• Dr Debora Malito’s monograph, ‘Destabilising Interventions in Somalia: Sovereignty Transformations and Subversions’, was published by Routledge in 2020.
• Dr Robert Pauls secured funding for a research project on ‘The political economy of central banking and market-based finance in China’ starting AY 19/20.
• Dr Nicole Talmacs published two journal articles out of her current research project in the journals: Media International Australia and the Journal of Asian and African Studies in 2020. Her monograph, ‘China’s Cinema of Class: Audiences and Narratives’, was published by Routledge in 2017.

Refer to the Department of International Studies staff profiles for more information.

Research partners and collaborators

Global outreach is a core activity of the department and, to that end, our staff have partnered with a range of organisations and researchers around the world:

• German Institute for Japanese Studies
• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Tokyo, Japan
• Southeast Asia Research Centre – City University of Hong Kong
• Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
• Centre for International Business, University of Leeds, UK
• Centre for the Study of Political Ideologies, University of Nottingham, UK
• Institute for European Studies, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
• Korea University Business School, Seoul, South Korea. The department’s research includes collaborations with faculty from the University of South Wales and the University of Leicester in the UK; Ewha Womans University, South Korea; and the University of Duisburg-Essen and Ruhr University Bochum, both in Germany.

Staff Projects

• Dr Alessandra Cappelletti – Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) narratives in Europe; Chinese Investments in Central Asia; identity discourses and narratives in Suzhou.
• Professor Adam Cross – Comparative analyses of start-up and innovation ecosystems, and the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the development of china, especially in relation to china’s Belt and Road Initiative.
• Dr Michael Connors – ‘Translating Thai Politics/Political Ideologies in Southeast Asia’
• Dr Evans Fanoulis – democratic politics in Europe; EU foreign policy and security governance; EU-China relations
• Dr Stephen Long – Anglo-American covert intervention in Albania and the Balkans in the early Cold War period
• Dr Robert Pauls – The political economy of central banking and market-based finance in China
• Dr Nicole Talmacs – Chinese cinema and global audiences; ‘Orchestrated Thinking in China’ (co-lead with Dr Altman Peng, Newcastle University, UK); ‘The China Question’ (Co-lead with Dr Dragan Pavlićević, XJTLU)