Dr Christopher Featherstone
Associate Lecturer

Profile

Biography

Christopher Featherstone’s research fits at the intersection between International Relations, US and UK Foreign Policy, and Foreign Policy decision-making. He has published on Foreign Policy Analysis, and US Presidential foreign policy decision-making. His current research builds on this, focusing on UK foreign policy decision-making structures, the Trump administration’s foreign policy legacy, and US Cyber foreign policy. He has made appearances on France24 and LBC, and he is a regular contributor to The Conversation. 

Before joining York, Chris was a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS. Chris has also taught at the LSE in the Departments of Government, International Relations, and the European Institute. At York, Chris has taught on US foreign policy, International Security, and Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism. He also won the University of York 2024 “Teacher of the Year Award” from York University Students Union (YUSU). 

Chris holds a PhD from the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham. His thesis used Foreign Policy Analysis models to explain the US and UK decision-making processes that led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. This research will be published as a book titled, “The Road to War in Iraq: Comparative Foreign Policy Analysis” soon. 

Research

Overview

Chris’s current research includes a paper examining the Trump Administration’s foreign policy legacy, positioning this legacy in relation to his predecessors in the White House. He is also developing a project examining President Bush’s leadership style in the deployment of the cyberweapon “Stuxnet” against the Iranian nuclear programme. He also has a book proposal under review with Manchester University Press.

Chris has an overarching focus on the role of individuals in foreign policy, examining how individuals influence foreign policy-making and the conduct of foreign policy. From this, he has an interest in Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA), and has recently published a chapter on FPA scholarship in the Global South.

Publications

Selected publications

Featherstone, C. (2022). Foreign Policy Analysis: Engagements outside of the West. In: Cooke, S. (2022). Non-Western Global Theories of International Relations. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Siniver, A., Featherstone, C. (2020). The Plutocrat President: Low-Conceptual Complexity and Trump’s Foreign Policy. Global Affairs. Volume 6, Issue 1.

Hassan, O. Featherstone, C. (2020). Trump’s low conceptual complexity leadership style and the vanishing ‘Unpredictability Doctrine’. Cambridge Review of International Affairs.

Teaching

Undergraduate

• What is Politics?
• The United States & Global Politics after the Cold War

Postgraduate

• Theories of the Policy Process

Other teaching

Chris has experience teaching courses on International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, US and UK foreign policy, Brexit, International Organisations, and Policy Making & Processes.