Rory Stewart appointed Professor in Practice in the Department of International Relations
The London School of Economics and Political Science has appointed Rory Stewart as Professor in Practice in the Department of International Relations.
Drawing on his career in politics, diplomacy, academia and international development, Professor Stewart will play a key role in connecting students' academic study of international relations with the realities of policy-making and global affairs. Through teaching, policy and public engagement, he will bridge theoretical perspectives with practical experience in addressing some of the world's most pressing challenges.
Rory Stewart is a former UK cabinet minister, diplomat and Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan, taught at Harvard and Yale, has written six books, including the Sunday Times number one bestseller Politics on the Edge, and co-presents The Rest Is Politics with Alastair Campbell.
Rory served as UK Secretary of State for International Development, Minister of State for Justice, Minister of State in the Foreign Office and DFID and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. After a brief period as an infantry officer, he joined the UK Diplomatic Service, serving in Jakarta, as British representative to Montenegro after the Kosovo crisis, and as coalition Deputy-Governor of two provinces in southern Iraq following the 2003 intervention. In 2008, he became Ryan Professor of Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School and Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. He later served as Brady-Johnson Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale and remains associated with Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs.
Speaking about the appointment, Rory Stewart commented: "I’m delighted to be joining LSE. There are few places where you can walk out of a seminar on the future of democracy, technology or the international order and find yourself, a few minutes later, in the middle of the institutions actually grappling with those questions. I’m particularly looking forward to learning from the extraordinary students and colleagues here, and to bringing some of my own experience of politics and international affairs into those conversations.”
Professor Jeffrey Chwieroth, Head of the Department of International Relations, said: "We are delighted to welcome Rory Stewart to the Department of International Relations. He is a truly exceptional figure whose career spans the highest levels of British politics, frontline diplomacy, humanitarian leadership, and academia, and who has established himself as one of the most compelling public intellectuals of his generation.
"His insights into international relations, foreign policy, and the challenges facing the contemporary world order are unmatched, and his ability to communicate complex ideas to wide audiences is extraordinary. He embodies the values that LSE's International Relations Department has stood for throughout its history: rigorous thinking in the service of the real world.
"His appointment will enrich the intellectual life of our students and colleagues, and be a wonderful addition to both the Department and the School as we approach the Department's centenary in 2027."
To mark his appointment, Rory Stewart will take part in a public event hosted by the Department of International Relations, Weaponising Dependency - The New World Order, on 14 October 2026. The event will explore how economic interdependence, technological networks and global supply chains have become instruments of geopolitical power.