Dr Felix Berenskoetter

Felix Berenskötter is Head of Department and Senior Lecturer in International Relations. When wearing his scholarly hat, he explores the practice of theorizing world politics, with particular attention to the concepts of identity, friendship, strangeness, power, security, space and time; with an empirical focus on European security, German foreign policy, German-Israeli relations, and transatlantic relations.

Felix holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he also was editor of the journal ‘Millennium: Journal of International Studies’. Before coming to SOAS, he was a Research Associate at the Department of War Studies, King's College London, and a Research Fellow at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, Dartmouth College. In earlier years he had a peek into various areas of work, ranging from driving ambulances to diplomacy, before deciding that academia is the best place to retreat from and intervene in the world. He is convinced that there is friendship in international politics and that it matters.

Before becoming Head of Department, Felix served as associate editor of the ‘Journal of Global Security Studies’ and co-convened the 'Interpretivism in International Relations' Working Group of the British International Studies Association (BISA). He is founder and former chair of the ‘Theory Section’ of the International Studies Association (ISA) and currently serves as on the Governing Board of the European International Studies Association (EISA). His academic work has been supported with grants from the Fulbright Commission, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Leverhulme Trust.

• Theory and theory building in International Relations
• Concepts analysis (identity, power, security, peace, history)
• Politics of space and time
• Friendship and estrangement in international politics
• Transatlantic relations (in particular Germany-US)
• European security
• Transnational policing