Dr Eric Herring

Personal profile

I am Reader in International Politics in SPAIS, having previously been a University of Bristol Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow. I have also been a Visiting Scholar at George Washington University, a Social Science Research Council MacArthur Fellow at Columbia University and a tutor at the University of Aberystwyth.  I was Specialist Adviser to the Select Committee on Economic Affairs of the House of Lords for its inquiry into UK economic sanctions policy. I have given oral evidence on Iraq to the Select Committee on Defence of the House of Commons and have written expert reports on Iraq in relation to cases before the UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. I serve on the editorial boards of Critical Studies on Terrorism and Globalizations and advisory boards of the Institute for Policy Research and Development and the Oxford Research Group's Every Casualty programme. I am Impact Director of SPAIS which means assisting colleagues to translate their scholarly research into positive effects in the world beyond academia, Assistant Director of the Global Insecurities Centre and Book Reviews Editor of the International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies. 

I have received invitations from the following to speak about my work: University of Amsterdam. University of Hamburg. Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Oslo. George Soros Open Society Institute, Tashkent. NATO School, Oberammergau. Foreign Policy Association, New York. SOAS, University of London. Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London. Louise T. Blouin Institute, London. University of Plymouth. University of St. Andrews. University of Birmingham. King's College London. University of the West of England. Goldsmiths College. Imperial College, London. University of Leeds. University of Oxford. University of Kent at Canterbury. University of Aberystwyth. University of Exeter. Richmond: The American University in London. Keele University. Joint Services Command and Staff College, RAF Henlow.

Public engagement via the news media has been an important part of my work. For the print media this has included articles, interviews or quotes for Rzeczpospolita Poland, Pravdy Slovakia, L’Avvenire Italy, Fars News Agency Iran, Folha de Sao Paulo Brazil, New York Times, Helsingen Sanomat Finland, Today Singapore, El Nacional Venezuela, the Press Association, Daily Telegraph, The People, The Times, Sunday Herald, Daily Mirror, New Statesman, Scottish Daily Record, Western Mail, Bristol Evening Post, Western Daily Press and The Big Issue. I have written background and presenter material for BBC 2 Newsnight; had a regular current affairs slot on Channel 4's Big Breakfast; was academic consultant for John Pilger's documentary Paying the Price about the economic sanctions on Iraq; and have appeared on Sky news and various national current affairs and local news programmes. For radio, I have appeared on or had material broadcast by SBS Radio Australia, the South African Broadcasting Corporation and the Finnish Broadcasting Company. For BBC radio, I have contributed to the World Service and World Service Asian Network; Radio 4 6 O’Clock News, Today,  Moral Maze, You and Yours, The Westminster Hour and The Turning World; Radio 5 Live Magazine, Drivetime and After Hours; Radio 2; Radio Wales and Radio Scotland. I have also appeared many times on LBC London, TalkSport Radio  and BBC local radio across the UK.

Research

My research falls broadly within Critical Security Studies (CSS) in that it relates security scholarship to progressive social change, including critical reflection on the nature of that project. To that end I have carried out research on the relationship between International Relations academia and elite power, including an assessment of why the world politics scholarship of Noam Chomsky receives so little attention in academia; on the UN economic sanctions on Iraq 1990-2003 and beyond that the occupation of Iraq; and on activist world politics scholarship.

My current research in CSS has two related themes. The first theme is bringing historical materialism into understanding security: at present, class - especially defined in relationship to ownership and control of capital - is mostly ignored within CSS as a referent of security.  The second theme is the potential for resistance afforded by the fact that the process of neoliberalization is permeated by contradictions and must articulate in bybrid and diverse fashion with existing social forces. My empirical focus is primarily on the case of post-invasion and post-occupation Iraq set in global context. 

Teaching

I am passionate about teaching and was very pleased to be awarded a Faculty of Social Sciences and Law Teaching Prize in 2005. 

I teach 11102 Introduction to World Politics for first and second year undergraduates and M3012 International Security at MSc level. I use a wide range of teaching methods and materials. My fundamental goals are to introduce you to  relevant scholarly knowledge, ideas and debates, to assist you in understanding the world better and to help you develop your independent analytical capabilities in ways that will serve you well beyond university. 

I supervise PhD research on diverse critical security studies and world politics topics (e.g. state terrorism, the arms trade, US foreign policy, the news media, neoliberal globalization, strategic nonviolent struggle, refugees), using many kinds of method and drawing on a wide range of theoretical perspectives.

The unifying theme in my teaching and PhD supervision is critical scholarly engagement with a significant contemporary question or issue. 'Critical' in this context refers to identifying and questioning underlying values and frames of reference rather than taking them at face value. It also refers to exploring the prospects and potential for connecting scholarship to positive social change while understanding that what constitutes 'positive social change' is itself something that should not be taken as self-evident or beyond dispute. 

Full publications list in the University of Bristol publications system