Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford

Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford
Name	Department of Politics and International Relations
University	University of Oxford
Established	1996
Location	Oxford, England

Contents

Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford is an academic unit within the University of Oxford that teaches and researches political science and international relations. It draws on historical figures, comparative institutions and global crises to situate its work amid debates associated with Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Hannah Arendt. The department engages with policy actors such as United Nations, NATO, European Commission, World Bank, and International Criminal Court.

History

The department traces antecedents to tutorials and lectures linked to Harold Macmillan, David Cameron, Benjamin Disraeli, John Stuart Mill, and Edmund Burke and institutional developments after studies influenced by Cold War politics, the Suez Crisis, the Treaty of Maastricht, the Fall of the Berlin Wall, and the European Union enlargement. Foundational academic work referenced scholars associated with Isaiah Berlin, A. J. P. Taylor, E. H. Carr, Lord Palmerston, and Sir Isaiah Berlin while responding to events such as the Gulf War, the Iraq War, the Arab Spring, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Over time the department expanded research themes connected to the Peace of Westphalia, the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations, and the United Nations Charter.

The department is organised into research clusters and teaching units that align with comparative and international themes seen in work by Samuel P. Huntington, Robert Putnam, John Rawls, Friedrich Hayek, and Karl Popper. Administrative ties link it to colleges such as Christ Church, Oxford, Magdalen College, Oxford, St John's College, Oxford, Balliol College, Oxford, and All Souls College, Oxford. Governance includes committees with links to policy forums involving House of Commons, House of Lords, Parliament of the United Kingdom, European Parliament, and Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The structure supports doctoral supervision drawing on methods promoted in texts by Max Weber, Émile Durkheim, Antonio Gramsci, Michel Foucault, and Pierre Bourdieu.

Research hubs and centres address security, governance, political theory, and international political economy with cross-references to institutions like the Chatham House, Royal United Services Institute, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Brookings Institution, and Centre for Strategic and International Studies. Centres within and affiliated to the department examine case studies from United States 2008 election to Brexit, the Syrian civil war, and the Yugoslav Wars. The department’s publications respond to frameworks advanced by John Mearsheimer, Kenneth Waltz, Alexander Wendt, Robert Keohane, and Stephen Walt. Collaborative projects often involve partnerships with Oxford Internet Institute, Blavatnik School of Government, Nuffield College, Oxford, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, and Saïd Business School.

Undergraduate and graduate programmes cover curricula that reflect canonical works such as The Prince (Machiavelli), On Liberty, A Theory of Justice, The Communist Manifesto, and The Origins of Totalitarianism. Degree offerings include joint and single-honour courses with syllabi referencing historical episodes like the Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and the Reformation. Postgraduate supervision supports research in comparative politics, international relations, political theory and public policy with methodological training informed by texts associated with Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, and Milton Friedman. Professional development links students to internships at United Nations Development Programme, European Court of Human Rights, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and Human Rights Watch.

Faculty past and present include scholars whose work interrelates with figures such as Hannah Arendt, John Rawls, Isaiah Berlin, Samuel P. Huntington, and Robert Dahl. Notable alumni have held offices or roles connected to Boris Johnson, Theresa May, David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Vladimir Putin as well as diplomatic and international positions at United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Commission, and NATO. Other alumni have been associated with media and think tanks including The Economist, BBC, Financial Times, The Guardian, and The New York Times.

The department organises lecture series, seminars and public events featuring speakers from the fields of international affairs and political leadership such as Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Hillary Clinton, and Henry Kissinger. Its policy briefings and expert commentary influence debates in contexts like the Iraq War, the Afghanistan conflict (2001–2021), the Syrian civil war, Brexit, and the Eurozone crisis, and feed into advisory processes involving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Cabinet of the United Kingdom, European Council, and G7. Collaborative outreach includes partnerships with BBC World Service, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Sky News, and The Times.