Department Member, Politics and International Studies (POLIS)
TAPIR Jennings Randolph Fellow, United States Institute of Peace
St. John's College
Thesis Title: Constituting International Authority: International Administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
Brendan Simms
|
About
I am a PhD candidate at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge. I am also a TAPIR Jennings Randolph Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
My research focuses on the politics of international interventions in post-conflict territories. My interest is in sustained third-party engagements, particularly the politics of ‘the peacebuilding field’. I explore how peacebuilders in the field are shaped by their experience of intervention. My work applies spatial and relational lens to peacebuilding and attempts to more accurately conceptualise the agency-structure dynamics of peace operations.
My doctoral work examines the processes of constituting authority in international administrations, focusing on the example of the Office of the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I am interested in the interplay between international administrations and other actors, especially the continuing contestations and power negotiations between the localised peacebuilders and their international underwriters. My research is based on qualitative approaches, primarily in-depth interviews and extensive multi-sited fieldwork, including ethnographic research at the Office of the High Representative in Sarajevo.
My broader research interests lie in international peace and conflict resolution, politics of interventions; humanitarian affairs and international organisations. My regional expertise is in the Western Balkans, where I have conducted years of research as well as worked in the non-governmental sector. I was previously employed as a teaching assistant at University of Ljubljana. I also did work for Chatham House in London and International Peace Institute in New York. For four years I worked as a managing editor of the Journal of International Relations and Development.
Contact Information
| Homepage: |
