Jeffrey Michaels
Senior Fellow
Visiting Research Fellow, Department of War Studies, King's College London
Visiting Research Fellow, Changing Character of War Centre, Pemroke College, Oxford
Contact data
Biography
Jeffrey Michaels is a Senior Fellow at IBEI. Previously, he was an IEN Senior Fellow in American Foreign Policy and International Security, under IBEI and Institut d’Estudis Nord-americans (IEN) new programme, from 2020 to 2024. Earlier experience included working as a Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies at King’s College London, as well as serving as an official with NATO and the US Defense Department. He also holds Visiting Fellowships with the Department of War Studies at King's and the Changing Character of War Centre, Pembroke College, Oxford.
His research into foreign policy decision-making and the study of war incorporates different approaches from political science and history. He is particularly interested in US foreign policy from the Cold War to the present, the use of analogies and metaphors in decision-making, as well as exploring the connection between policymakers' conceptions of war and their decisions to initiate or refrain from war. His research has been published in The Journal of Cold War Studies, The Journal of Strategic Studies, Political Science Quarterly, International Politics Reviews, Small Wars and Insurgencies, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, the RUSI Journal, Contemporary Security Policy and Orbis. He is also the co-author, with Sir Lawrence Freedman, of The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy (4th Edition).
Background and education
- (2009) PhD in War Studies, King's College London
- (2003) MA in War Studies, King's College London
- (2000) BS in Business Administration, Skidmore College
Awards
- 2012. Amos Perlmutter Prize
Professional memberships & affiliations
- UK Higher Education Academy
Research
Research interests
- American Foreign Policy
- Nuclear Strategy
- Peace and conflict studies
- Cold War History
- Intelligence Studies
IBEI Research Clusters
Research projects
IEN - IBEI programme on American studies (Programme Academic Coordinator)
Selected publications
- 2024.An Indefinite Alliance? Article 13 and the North Atlantic Treaty.Diplomacy & Statecraft,Volume 35. Issue 2Link
- 2023.Grand strategy or grant strategy? Philanthropic foundations, strategic studies and the American academy.Journal of Strategic Studies,46:764–786Link
- 2022.‘A very different kind of challenge’? NATO’s prioritization of China in historical perspective.International Politics,59:1045–1064Link
- 2022.One President at a Time? How the President-Elect Shapes U.S. Foreign Policy during the Transition.Presidential Studies Quarterly,OnlineLink
- 2022.“No annihilation without representation”: NATO nuclear use decision-making during the Cold War.Journal of Strategic Studies,DOI: 10.1080/01402390.2022.2074405Link
- 2022.Deterrence and War Initiation Decisions.The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies,January 2022Link
- 2020.A “Responsible End” to the Afghan War: The Politics and Pitfalls of Crafting “Success” Narratives.In:
David Ryan, David Fitzgerald and John Thompson (eds)
.Not Even Past: How the United States Ends Wars.Berghahn. - 2020.Visions of the Next War or Reliving the Last One: Early Alliance Views of War with the Soviet Bloc.Journal of Strategic Studies,Published online May 2020
- 2020.An Education in Counterinsurgency? The National Interdepartmental Seminar on Problems of Development and Internal Defense, 1962-1971.International Politics Reviews,8:11-20