These are the profiles of some of our International History alumni, who have shared with us what they have been doing since they graduated. If you are a former student at the department and have not submitted your profile yet, please do so by filling out our alumni profile form.
Jonathan Friedler
BSc International Relations and History, 1982
Tutor: Professor George Grun
I emmigrated to Israel in 1989 where I have worked as an English teacher for over two decades. My students have included a Government Minister, a top entrepreneur, football referees and others. I am currently a British Council teacher and also a teacher at the local Open University.
Paula Henin
BSc International Relations and History, 2010
BSc Advisor: Dr Arne Hofmann
Dissertation supervisor: Professor Nigel Ashton
Dissertation title: A French Perspective on the British and American Interventions in the Levant, May - November 1958
Since graduating from LSE in 2010, I have completed a 4-year dual degree program in French and American law (Juris Doctor / Master's) at Columbia Law School and Sorbonne Law School, where I specialized in international law and international arbitration. While in law school, I completed various internships at law firms, an international organization and an international company. Since September 2014, I have been clerking for the Honorable Charles N. Brower, a leading independent international arbitrator, in The Hague, The Netherlands. Next September, I will be returning to New York City to start a job as an associate at a major law firm.
Jan Kuiper
BA in Medieval and Early Modern History, 1979
Tutors: David Starkey and John Gillingham
I studied for a BA in Medieval and Early Modern History under David Starkey and John Gillingham between 1976 and 1979 (as a mature student) and subsequently I took an MSc in Urban and Regional Planning with the Department of Geography under Derek Diamond. I finished my Masters in September 1980 and the title of my dissertation (as far as I remember) was "The Politics of Bicycle Planning". It is pleasing to see that after nearly 4 decades of cycling being regarded as primarily a 'leisure activity' or an activity pursued by fanatical sportsmen, it is now seriously considered as an important (and environmentally friendly) mode of transport. After finishing my Masters, I went on to take a post-graduate diploma in Conservation Planning (which has since been made into an MA degree) at Middlesex Polytechnic (now University) between 1981 and 1982. Subsequently, I was involved in setting up a small company selling recycled paper and, more importantly, developing a market for these products. In this process I negotiated with paper mills throughout Europe and pushing the boundaries of higher quality grades. I retired in 2013 and have become more politically active. In recent years, in addition to improving my knowledge of the Italian language, I have also started making use again of the LSE Library, combining my history interests with that of city development in Medieval Europe at the time of the emerging trade guilds.
Lindsay Aqui
MSc History of International Relations, 2013
Tutor: Dr Piers Ludlow
Dissertation title: Commonwealth Dimensions of Britain and European Integration: Ghana and the 1961 Application
Immediately following the completion of my MSc, I worked for one year as a researcher in the Department for Work and Pensions and then as a private secretary to the Minister for Business in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. I was responsible for advising the minister on a wide-range of policy areas, including: regulation, government asset sales, EU funding and export licensing. In September 2014 I began my PhD at Queen Mary University of London and am now in my third year. QMUL generously funds my research. My thesis is provisionally entitled ‘An Exceptional Case: Britain, Renegotiation, Referendum and the European Community, 1 January 1973 – 5 June 1975’. It examines notions of crisis and exceptionalism as they relate to Britain’s relationship with the European Community from entry to the 1975 referendum. In addition to the recent publication of my Masters dissertation in The International History Review, I have contributed to the BBC and my work has appeared in The Conversation UK, the LSE’s Brexit Blog and the Mile End Institute’s blog. I am also one of the Managing Editors of Cold War History, based at LSE IDEAS.
Madiha Bataineh
LSE-Columbia University Double Degree in International and World History, 2014
Tutor: Dr Paul Stock
Dissertation title: Transatlantic Rebelles: Mapping the First Decade of the Society of Women Geographers
I'm currently working as a Media and Communications Officer at the Royal Hashemite Court in Jordan and enrolled in a part-time masters program in creative writing at Oxford. In the latter, my goal is to translate my Master's dissertation on a society of women geographers from the 1920s into a novel. It's a work in progress.
Nicholas Butts
LSE-PKU Double Degree in International Affairs, 2016
Tutor: Professor Steven Casey
Dissertation title: Choosing Sides: The role of British and American reporters during the Chinese Civil War, 1945-1949
While still busy writing my thesis at LSE in August 2016, I begun pursuing an MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School where I am currently a Crown Prince Frederik Fellow. At the Kennedy School, I've continued to pursue my interest in relations between China and the West and I still write articles on Chinese foreign policy with a LSE-PKU classmate, e.g. in the National Interest. In July, I was selected as a Pacific Forum Young Leader by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). I also became a partner in a start-up based in Beijing - our first client is the world's largest LGBT social network and dating app. Finally, I am very involved in a tech-enabled education non-profit called Project Access, where I sit on the Advisory Board. At Project Access we fight inequality in access to the world's best universities - for students, by students and forever free of charge. Having launched only in February, we already have 700 mentors in 15 countries. And we are now working hard to ensure that we, by next year, will be in 60 countries and help more than 2000 students a year - levelling the playing field in access to top universities.
Rhoads Reynolds Cannon
MSc Theory and History of International Relations, 2013
Tutor: Dr Vladimir Unkovski-Korica
Dissertation title: The British Labour Leadership and the Greek Civil War: Linchpin of Labour's Concerns? 1944-1949
Rhoads is a Colorado native with strong ties to the European Continent. He is a recent double graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford, and will be completing his MBA in Spring 2017. While Rhoads' interests are tied to Russian foreign policy and American foreign relations, he is also a keen observer of domestic public policy. Upon graduation, Rhoads worked as a political risk and business supply chain analyst in Warsaw, Poland. Rhoads also tutors students in his spare time. When he is not riding horses in Wyoming or traveling to post-Soviet countries, he spends time with friends and family. Rhoads is greatly honored to have spent time at the magnificent LSE! He is interested in a career in the Defense Industry, but is open to disparate opportunities.
Matthew Frakes
LSE-Columbia University Double Degree in International and World History, 2017
Supervisor: Professor Steven Casey
Dissertation title: A Breach in the Special Relationship? Reagan, Thatcher, and the American Invasion of Grenada, 1983
Co-winner of the Richard Hofstadter Dissertation Prize. The Prize is awarded annually, in recognition of the highest dissertation mark in the LSE-Columbia University Double Degree Programme, and is a book prize.
Since completing my M.Sc. at LSE, I have continued my graduate studies in the Ph.D. program at the University of Virginia's Corcoran Department of History. My research interests center on United States political and diplomatic history during the twentieth century, with particular emphasis on the period from the end of the Cold War through the first decade of the twenty-first century. I am interested in the rise of the transatlantic conservative movements in America and Britain, as embodied by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, as well as the role of the Anglo-American partnership in ending the Cold War, forging the world that came after, and confronting the challenges of the twenty-first century, including the War on Terror and the Iraq War.
Graham Jenkins
MSc Theory and History of International Relations, 2010
Tutor: Professor MacGregor Knox
Dissertation title: Aden in the Balance: Airpower and Counterinsurgency in the Aden Emergency
Since graduation from LSE, I have been working in the US defense and national security sector. I was a research assistant in the Institute for Defense Analyses and now am a strategic analyst at the Scitor Corporation. I mostly conduct research and analysis of nuclear issues, including doctrine, posture, and force structures, as well as futures analysis and wargaming. In mid-April, I'm switching things up a bit, and taking a position with Ernst & Young, where I will be staffing the EY Government and Public Sector's enterprise risk management practice.
Dr Graham Jevon
MSc History of International Relations, 2009 (distinction)
Tutor: Professor Nigel Ashton
Dissertation title: Anglo-Jordanian Relations, 1953-1958: The Causes and Consequences of Glubb’s Dismissal
After leaving LSE, Dr Graham Jevon did a DPhil in History at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, under the supervision of Professor Eugene Rogan. Dr Jevon's research was generously supported by scholarships from the AHRC and the British Society of Middle Eastern Studies. Since being awarded a DPhil, Dr Jevon has taught on the Stanford Program in Oxford, tutoring third year undergraduates visiting Oxford from Stanford University. His newest book is a rework of his doctoral thesis, Glubb Pasha and the Arab Legion: Britain, Jordan, and the End of Empire in the Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Dr Jevon wrote a blog post for The National Archives about the research conducted for his book, which started as a Master’s dissertation in our department, supervised by Professor Nigel Ashton. Read it here.
Zoe Koustoumpardi
MSc Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation, 2012
Tutor: Dr Eirini Karamouzi
Dissertation title: Greece’s Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy, July 1974 – June 1975: The View from Britain
Currently, I'm the Centre Coordinator at the newly established Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, within the Institute of Global Affairs at LSE. This is an interdisciplinary, regionally focused centre that serves as a hub at the School for public debate and engagement, and research dissemination on issues relevant to the region. As Centre Coordinator, I work together with the Director - Prof. Danny Quah - to develop the centre's activities, strategic development and achieve its engagement and fundraising objectives. Prior to this, I worked at LSE IDEAS - the School's foreign policy think-tank, My main focus there was to build a Southern Europe International Affairs Programme together with Dr Eirini Karamouzi. This entailed: building and maintaining a tightly knit research network in the UK, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain; organising conferences, publication launches, workshops and public events; commissioning and editing special reports.
Kevin McGarry
MSc Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation, 2014
Tutor: Dr Matthew Hinds
Dissertation title: U.S.-Mexico Relations Between WWII and the Cold War (1945-1948)
After LSE, I moved back to Southern California where I served as the Director of Student Tours and Teacher Training at Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. I am now Associate Director for Public Engagement at the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation.
Dr Emmanuel Mourlon-Druol
MSc History of International Relations, 2005
Tutor: Dr Piers Ludlow
Dissertation title: The Creation of the European Council in 1974
After completing a PhD in History at the European University Institute in Florence (2006-2010), I embarked on an academic career. I was a Pinto Post-Doctoral Fellow at LSE IDEAS/International History Department (2010-2011) and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Economic and Social History Department, University of Glasgow (2011-2013). In 2013, I was appointed Lord Kelvin Adam Smith Fellow, at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, a position I still hold. My publications appear in journals such as Cold War History, Diplomacy & Statecraft, West European Politics and Business History.
Ankita Mukhopadhyay
MSc History of International Relations, 2015
Supervisors: Dr Heather Jones and Professor Sönke Neitzel
Dissertation title: Post-war restructuring of youth health and cultural politics: British rehabilitation policies in occupied Germany, 1945-48
After completing my degree at the LSE, I decided to pursue a career in research, which led me to Gartner Inc, a global research and advisory firm. I am currently working as a Senior Specialist in Gartner’s strategic research team in India. Prior to this, I worked at major global media outlets such as The Economist Group and 21st Century Fox. Apart from my daily work, I also pursue my passion for writing. I have written articles for publications as varied as The Economist to The Jakarta Post. LSE helped me hone my skills in research and gain a global footing. My dissertation at the LSE was awarded distinction, and I also helped set up the institute’s first peer-reviewed journal, The Houghton Street Review, which is now catalogued at the British Library.
Watch Ankita Mukhopadhyay talk about her degree MSc History of International Relations.
Giulia Sbaffi
MSc History of International Relations, 2015
Tutor: Dr Heather Jones
Dissertation title: Retracing memory through history: the Ardeatine Caves and Civitella Val di Chiana
I am a doctoral student at the Department of Italian Studies of New York University. After graduating from LSE, and before moving to New York, I was an international affiliate at the centre for Oral History at Concordia University (Montreal) and a collaborator at Archive of Migrant Memories in Rome. I’m interested in memory and Italian history. At LSE, I worked on the reception of memory of the Resistance in Italy during the 1970s which is the main focus of my work at NYU.
Aabha Sharma
MSc Theory and History of International Relations, 2015
Tutor: Dr Gagan D. S. Sood
Dissertation title: British Imperial Policy and Decolonization: A Comparative Study of Partitions in India and Ireland
Aabha is working at PricewaterhouseCoopers India's Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development (GRID) practice. She works as a Consultant, providing advisory on Public Financial Management (PFM) matters for Governments in India and in developing nations.
Professor Hamish Stewart
MA International History, 1975
Supervisor: Donald Cameron Watt
I was employed at the Universidad de Concepcion, Concepcion, Chile from 1983-1993 and I am now employed at the Universidad de Playa Ancha, Valparaiso, Chile and the Universidad Andres Bello, Viña del Mar, Chile as an Associate Professor, specializing in British and American History and International Relations. I have written two books, La Segunda Guerra Mundial 1939-1945: Repercusiones internacionales y consecuencias en Chile and Del Mar del Norte al Mar del Sur: Navegantes Ingleses y Holandeses an el Pacifico Suroriental as well as numerous articles.
Matthieu Watson Santerre
MSc History of International Relations, 2014
Supervisor: Dr Heather Jones
Dissertation title: The Forgotten Monarch: Franz Joseph and the July Crisis
After graduating from LSE, I expanded and published my dissertation on Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph’s role in the outbreak of the First World War. I spent a few years with the United Nations: first with the UN Conference on Trade and Development as the Sustainable Development Goals were being finalised; then the World Food Programme; and most recently the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism. I currently work with VINEx, an exciting new action tank at the forefront of understanding how viruses, such as COVID-19, and other infectious agents impact brain health. VINEx goes farther than a traditional think tank: it leads and effects meaningful change. It has been seven years since I graduated from LSE, but I am still filled with that spirit of curiosity. That quest "to know the causes of things" (rerum cognoscere causas).
Jarek Zaba
MSc Theory and History of International Relations, 2012
Supervisor: Dr Joanna Lewis
Dissertation title: British recognition of the International Association of the Congo: An Analysis of Factors, 1882-1884
Upon completion of my degree, I fortunately did not have to look far for employment - I was hired by LSE's Alumni & Development Office (now LSE Advancement) within a month of finishing my dissertation. I work in Advancement's Communications team, producing a variety of content and publications that support the office's work in securing philanthropic funding and reaching out to LSE's alumni. I am now in my fifth year of employment at LSE. Extra-curricularly, I still retain a passion for history and research, and I am exploring the possibility of PhD study. Beyond academia, my own geeky obsessiveness in the field of music has resulted in a long term 2-3 year project with website and podcast, www.theus100.com, which sees me explore the history/origins/legacy of 100 songs I have selected from American musical history.
Professor Jeffrey Dvorkin
MPhil International History, 1974
Supervisor: Professor James Joll
Thesis title: The French Resistance in Paris and the Zone Nord 1940-1943
I ended up in journalism. I eventually became managing editor and chief journalist at CBC Radio in Toronto. I was also the VP of News and Information at NPR in Washington DC, then NPR's first news ombudsman. Now back in Toronto to teach and run the journalism program at the University of Toronto (Scarborough Campus). I've done media training in quite a number of places - West Africa, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Chile. LSE remains an important influence in my life as a teacher and a journalist.
Dr Douglas Ford
PhD International History, 2002
Supervisor: Professor Antony Best
Thesis title: British Intelligence and Japan’s Armed Forces during the Second World War in the Asia-Pacific theatre, 1937-1945
After completing my Ph.D., I held lectureships at several UK universities, including Aberystwyth, Salford, and Birmingham. I have also held visiting positions at the University of Wolverhampton, as well as overseas institutions including the Japanese National Institute for Defense Studies and Waseda University. I have published three books, plus over a dozen journal articles which have appeared in The Journal of Military History, International History Review, War in History, and Journal of Strategic Studies. I have also presented papers at conferences in France, Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. I am also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and have served on the editorial board for the Mariner’s Mirror. I am currently based at the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia, where I lecture on military history and strategic planning for the officer education programmes.
Dr Donald Rotunda
PhD International History, 1972
Supervisor: Professor Donald Cameron Watt
Thesis title: The Rome Embassy of Sir Eric Drummond, 16th Earl of Perth, 1933-1939
Donald T. Rotunda was the Manager of Editorial Services, later promoted to Director of Editorial Services, at four Fortune 20 corporations: United Technologies Corporation; PepsiCo; Union Carbide and Martin Marietta Corporation. He is the author of numerous articles in The Washington Post, the New Republic Magazine, The Saturday Review; The Orange County Register and other publications. He is the author of the forthcoming Ambassador to Mussolini's Italy and The View from Fleet Street. He is former board member of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and the Director of the Center for Contemporary History. He lives in Villa Park California, USA.