Rate My Professor Alister Miskimmon

Professor Alister Miskimmon is Professor of International Relations in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen's University Belfast, where he serves as Dean of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. He previously held the position of Head of the School since June 2017. Miskimmon earned his PhD from the University of Birmingham in the Institute for German Studies, focusing on German Studies and International Relations, completing his doctorate between 2000 and 2005. Early in his career, he was awarded a competitive Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the European Foreign and Security Policy Studies Programme, funded by Compagnia di San Paolo, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, and VolkswagenStiftung, commencing in August 2005.

Miskimmon's research specializations lie in strategic narratives, public diplomacy, German foreign and security policy, European and transatlantic security policy, and the development of international order, including China's emerging role. His seminal publications include Strategic Narratives: Communication Power and the New World Order (Routledge, 2013, co-authored with Ben O'Loughlin and Laura Roselle), which received the 2016 Best Book Award in International Communication from the International Studies Association, and Forging the World: Strategic Narratives and International Relations (University of Michigan Press, 2017, co-edited with Ben O'Loughlin and Laura Roselle). He has produced 76 research outputs, encompassing 27 articles, 18 chapters, 7 books, and more, with recent works such as 'Strategic narrative: its origins and evolution, its connection to public diplomacy, and some future paths' (Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 2026, with B. O'Loughlin) and 'Between the devil and the deep blue sea: German narratives of Europapolitik' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025, with W. E. Paterson). As Series Editor of the Palgrave Book Series in International Political Communication, Miskimmon influences the field through editorial contributions. He supervises PhD students on topics including conceptual and empirical studies of strategic narratives in international relations, studies in public diplomacy, European security policy, and German foreign policy. His scholarship has achieved substantial impact, evidenced by over 5,000 citations on Google Scholar.