I am an LSE Fellow in IPE in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics.

My research broadly examines the relationship between capitalism and empire in the making of global order. I do so by drawing on the critical and historical traditions of IR and IPE. My work contributes to scholarly debates in IR, IPE, security studies, history, political theory, and American political development. My previous work has been published in Review of International Political Economy and Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of International Studies.

My first book project, The Crisis of Empire and the Formation of the US Foreign Policy Establishment, investigates the rise of US power in the world from the Spanish-American War to the postwar period. I argue that the strategic and political-economic foundations of US power emerged from a global imperial experience, and not primarily from a ‘domestic’ liberal tradition. The project draws on a range of primary sources to analyse how the US foreign policy elite came of age throughout the age of empire. I document how US elites engaged in and drew upon a global comparative study of empire in fashioning the principles, practices, and core institutions of US foreign policy. Rather than bringing about the end of empire, I argue, these elites sought to re-engineer the global imperial system to suit American interests.

My second major research project moves to the contemporary period to examine the re-emergence of multipolarity in the world system and the crises of US global authority and legitimacy this re-emergence has spawned. I investigate the ideas and strategies the US security establishment have developed in seeking to manoeuvre and mitigate these crises, and their impact on global development.

My pedagogy draws on these ongoing research projects to challenge students to locate themselves and their career trajectories in the entangled histories of capitalism and empire, and to assess the impact (potential and actual) of their own work on global political realities.

Prior to joining LSE, I completed my PhD in Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. I also hold an MA from the University of British Columbia and a BA from Ithaca College.

Research Cluster affiliation

International Political Economy research cluster

Security and Statecraft research cluster

Theory/Area/History research cluster

Research Centre affiliation

Phelan United States Centre

Not available to supervise MPhil/PhD students.