Dr Cristina G. Stefan
- Position: Associate Professor of International Relations
- Areas of expertise: Responsibility to Protect R2P; International Relations Theory; Constructivism and Norm Diffusion; Peace and Conflict Studies; International Justice; Global Governance; United Nations; Human Protection
- Email: C.Stefan@leeds.ac.uk
- Phone: +44(0)113 343 4933
- Location: 13.32 Social Sciences Building
- Website: Twitter | Googlescholar | Researchgate
Profile
I joined POLIS in 2014, having taught international relations, transitional justice and peace and conflict studies in Canada, at Western University and at the University of Toronto. I hold an M.A. (2002) and a Ph.D. (2007) in International Relations from The University of Western Ontario (Western University) in Canada. I then undertook post-doctoral appointments at the University of Toronto, in Canada, and The City University of New York, in the USA. I was a Visiting Fellow at The Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The City University of New York, and a SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. I returned to academic research after a three-year interlude as a consultant for a public opinion research firm in Toronto. Since my return to academe, I have also worked with key impact external partners, such as the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, on areas related to my research interests.
I am a Founding Director, and currently Co-Director, of the European Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (ECR2P). Apart from contributing towards the launch of ECR2P in December 2016, I also launched a global network of women academics, researchers, experienced diplomats, United Nations and European Union officials, seasoned policy-makers and practitioners, civil society and charity directors, working in the fields of international peace, security and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) across the globe. This global network of experts is entitled Women Network on the Responsibility to Protect, Peace and Security.
I have acted as Convenor of the British International Studies Association Intervention and R2P Working Group (BISA IR2PWG) in the past, as well as Senior Analyst with the Global Governance Institute in Brussels.
I have been the recipient of research awards both in Canada and the UK, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the British Academy. My most recent research grant (as Co-Investigator) is a three-year Danish Research Council (Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond, DFF) funded project on "Protection Complexity: How the UN, EU and AU practice civilian protection."
I received the Women of Achievement Award from the University of Leeds in 2018, an award which recognizes the significant contribution and impact that women of outstanding achievement have made across the University and beyond.
Responsibilities
- Co-Director of The European Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (ECR2P)
Research interests
My research interests span the fields of International Relations Theory (with a focus on Constructivism and Norm Studies), International Security, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Human Protection. More specifically, my research has focused on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), global institutional responsibility, the United Nations, humanitarian intervention, mass atrocity prevention, international criminal justice, and norm diffusion. All these topics were captured in my first monograph, entitled Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect: Security and Human Rights (first published in 2010).
I have also been interested in examining the peace versus justice trade-off, the responsibility to prosecute and the ICC, civilian protection, and the evolution and consequences of international norms and institutions. At the empirical level, I have researched and published on the crises in Darfur, South Ossetia, Libya, Syria, and Guinea. While I published solo-authored journal articles and book chapters, I have also had the pleasure of co-authoring with friends and colleagues, including Thomas G. Weiss, Linnea Gelot, Kirsten J. Fisher, and Kai M. Kenkel (some of my publications were published under my previous surname, Badescu).
Other research interests pertain to non-Western powers, and especially their role at the global level in challenging and shaping international norms, with a particular focus on the BRICS. "On Non-Western Norm Shapers: Brazil and the Responsibility while Protecting" is my most recent publication on this research topic.
Three recent research projects that I just completed include:
- my British Academy-funded work on R2P, peace and security;
- a study on atrocity prevention with a focus on Guinea, requested by (and for) the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect;
- a study on the European Union's commitment to R2P
My current research projects focus on norm clusters, mass atrocity prevention, the overlaps between the WPS and R2P agendas, and competing approaches to human protection. The last one is linked to the three-year, Danish Research Council-funded project I'm co-investigating with Dr Chiara de Franco (PI) and Dr Linnea Gelot (Co-I) on "Protection Complexity: How the UN, EU and AU Practice Civilian Protection."
Qualifications
- 2007: Ph.D. in International Relations (Western University, Canada)
- 2002: M.A. in International Relations (Western University, Canada)
- 2001: BSc Hons International Business and Economics (Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest Romania)
Professional memberships
- International Studies Association (ISA)
- European International Studies Association (EISA)
- British International Studies Association (BISA)
- Academic friends of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO)
- The Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS)
Student education
I teach on the following modules at the University of Leeds:
- International Politics
- Responsibility to Protect
My teaching is informed by my own research on international politics, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), IR theory, and human protection.
Research groups and institutes
- European Centre for Responsibility to Protect