Welcome

Welcome to my website! I am a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in International Relations at the University of St Andrews. One strand of my research analyzes how disputes over the implementation of international law affect the strength of law and the reputation of dispute parties. The other strand studies how (social, legal and moral) norms, personal principles and international law affect foreign-policy decision-making

Legal ambiguities and tensions give rise to debate as, for instance, the contestation over the legality of the Iraq War shows. I treat norm contestation as a problematique to understand norm development in international relations. Specifically, I develop theoretical frameworks on processes and possible outcomes of norm contestation that can guide empirical research. My dissertation – on which my book is best – has received the Political Studies Association’s Shirin Rai Prize and the Department of Politics and International Relations’ (Oxford University) Bapsybanoo Marchioness of Winchester Prize for the best dissertation in International Relations. I have also received an Award from the International Studies Association-Theory Section (2018) and an Honorable Mention from the International Studies Association-International Security Studies Section (2018) for one of these theories that elaborates on the different endings that political debates over norm application can have. An updated version of this award-winning paper, “Beyond Internalization: Alternate Endings of the Norm Life Cycle“, has been published with International Studies Quarterly in 2019. My book, The Politics of International Norms: A Rhetorical Approach, is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press (expected publication in late 2024/early 2025).

I am also interested in the strategies and motivations of those who contest norms and policies. In a symposium, published with International Affairs, Lea Wisken and I explore different ways of expressing dissent. We argue that it is possible to distinguish between norm contestation through words and action, that is, discursive and behavioural contestation (open access): https://academic.oup.com/ia/article/95/3/515/5420587

Currently, I do research on how personal principles and norms have influenced decision-making when actors who question norms take personally costly and internationally significant decisions. A first paper on this ‘norm-principle’-interplay was published by the European Journal of International Relations in September 2022: it studies the September 2019 rebellion in the House of Commons, where 21 Tory MPs lost the whip (i.e. their ability to stand for their party in future elections) for voting against the party line to prevent a no-deal Brexit. You can read it here. I am currently finishing up a collaborative research project that distinguishes between different kinds of normativity in International Relations, and their influences on decision-making in international affairs.

My next project, which won research grants from the British Academy and the Carnegie Trust, will explore drafting privileges in International Organizations. 

This website provides an overview of my academic research and teaching.