New program IEN – IBEI on American politics and international security
The program aims to promote the city of Barcelona as a relevant meeting place for American studies, attracting the best international experts and academics as a place for reflection and debate, with special attention to the implications of US foreign policy in the European and Mediterranean framework
The Institut d’Estudis Nord-americans (IEN) and the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) launch a program on American politics and international security will be modeled on the pattern of the best European programs of American studies in this area.
The program aims to promote the capacity for reflection and research from Barcelona on US foreign policy and international security, deepening the knowledge of strategic, geo-political and socio-economic aspects that have a relevant link on this topic.
The main objectives of the program are to participate in public, academic, and expert debates on US foreign policy and its global implications; and establish relationships and networks with American researchers and research centers in the program’s areas of interest. The program will pay special attention to the implications of US foreign policy in the European and Mediterranean framework, as well as to transatlantic relations.
As part of its rollout, the program will promote a number of activities, both in the field of research with the aim of attracting international visibility and achieving academic prestige, as well as in the fields of training and dissemination. Highlights include the annual organization of an international conference on the role of the United States in global politics, with a special focus on the situation in the Mediterranean and Africa; and the promotion of academic seminars, outreach and reflection activities on foreign policy, more broadly, on American politics and society, open to all.
Professor Jeffrey Michaels will be the academic coordinator of the program. Michaels has been selected from more than 50 applicants in a high-level international public call announced in February 2020. Professor Michaels joined the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) in September.
Jeffrey Michaels holds a PhD in War Studies from King's College London. He previously was Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies at King’s College London, as well as serving as an official with NATO and the US Defense Department. Her lines of research focus primarily on US foreign policy from the Cold War to the present. He continues to hold the position of visiting researcher at King's College London and Pembroke College Oxford.
Events
- Workshop: Foreign Policy Implications of the 2020 US Presidential Election
- New Seminar Series on the US Foreign Policy (January-June 2021)
- Seminar Series on the US Foreign Policy (1st Semester 2021-22)
- Seminar Series on the US Foreign Policy (2nd Semester 2021-22)
- Seminar Series on the US Foreign Policy 2022-23
- Seminar Series on the US Foreign Policy 2023-24
Videos
IEN-IBEI Workshop: Foreign Policy Implications of the 2020 US Presidential Election
The Evolution of US Climate Change Diplomacy - Dr. Mara Oliva, University of Reading
Curating and Re-Curating the Wars in Vietnam and Iraq - Prof Christine Sylvester, University of Connecticut
American Exceptionalism in the Post-Trump era - Hilde Restad (Bjørknes University)
The Global Policeman: Past, Present, and Future - Dr. Stuart Schrader, Johns Hopkins University
US-Spanish Relations and the Biden Presidency - Dr. Carlota Encina, Real Instituto Elcano
Contemporary US-India Relations - Dr. Rudra Chaudhuri, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Race and American Foreign Policy - Professor Michael Krenn, Appalachian State University
US Foreign Policy: A Political Psychology Perspective - David Houghton (US Naval War College)
Continuity and Change in U.S. Human Rights Policy. Sarah B. Snyder (American University)
Seven Decades of American Studies in Europe - Philip McGowan (Queen’s University Belfast)
Trump Was Not Unique: Continuity & Change in American Foreign Policy - A. Gawthorpe, Leiden Univ.
The Biden Foreign Policy: First Year Assessment - Bruce W. Jentleson (Duke University)
The US, the International Criminal Court, and the Crime of Aggression - Giulia Pecorella (MDX UK)
Status as a Driver of US foreign policy - Michelle Murray (Bard College)
Planned activities
Seminar Series on US Foreign Policy
Over the course of 2020-2021 approximately 10 online sessions will be held. Speakers will consist of a mix of established scholars, PhD students and possibly 1-2 US policymakers. Each session will last 90 minutes (5 min intro, 40 min presentation, 40 min Q and A, 5 min closing remarks).
Workshop 2 (May 2021 TBC)
This workshop will be held at IBEI to coincide with the first 100 days following the presidential inauguration. Its purpose will be to evaluate emerging signs of continuity versus change in US foreign policy relative to the previous 4 years with panels on: US foreign policy doctrine/ideology, US policy towards the EU-NATO and US policy towards Russia-China.