Research

The US Centre’s Geopolitics and Foreign Policy stream operates at the intersection of international relations and diplomatic history to provide insight into and perspective on contemporary US foreign policy and the international and domestic forces that are shaping it. The rapid development of powers such as China, India, and Brazil poses new challenges for US leaders, as do global issues such as nuclear proliferation, energy security, and climate change. These issues and developments will be high on the Centre’s research agenda, as will the practical domestic politics of managing foreign policy-making at a time when many US citizens are urging their leaders to focus on problems closer to home. Understanding today’s strategic challenges in the context of both the distant and the immediate past provides a basis for discussing realistic global responses. 

The US Centre’s Democracy and Governance stream brings together LSE expertise in comparative political economy, political institutions and development, electoral and voting systems, law and jurisprudence, media and politics, labour rights, gender, ethnic, and racial politics, and public policy.  Drawing on quantitative-formal analysis and historical-institutional research, this stream spotlights aspects of domestic governance and democratic representation that shape Washington’s capacity to generate policy outputs and affect public confidence in American leaders.  Many of the problems that now plague the American political system (partisan polarization, campaign financing, voter disenfranchisement) can be studied in comparative context, enabling the US Centre to explore the transnational effects of ongoing changes in the US state and society. 

The US Centre’s Globalisation, Economic Performance, and Inequality stream is focused on the US’s relationship with globalisation. Globalisation is often equated with ‘Americanisation’, but it is also transforming US politics and the North American regional landscape. Outsourcing, the globalisation of finance, immigration, trade, and growing inequality blur the lines between international and domestic politics. Understanding the dynamics at work in these complex, highly charged issues is essential. Drawing on LSE expertise in economics, international political economy, regional geography, and social and political demography allows the US Centre to better grasp the social forces at work in these issue-areas and the range of possible responses open to policy makers.