School of Social and Political Science

Dr Carmen Gebhard, SFHEA

Senior Lecturer in Politics and IR; Co-Director of the MSc International and European Politics

Carmen Gebhard photo
C.Gebhard@ed.ac.uk
+44 (0)131 6504622
4.2
Chrystal Macmillan Building
15a George Square
Edinburgh
UK
EH8 9LD

Research interests

International Relations Research Group Politics and political violence Territorial Politics Research Group

Comparative European politics, Small states, Regional autonomies, European Union foreign and security policy, Security and defence cooperation, Inter-organisationalism

Carmen's research interests fall into two broad categories:

  1. International Relations: global security with a focus on the European Union's crisis management policies, comprehensive security conceptions and inter-organizational cooperation in the area of security and defence (EU-NATO in particular). In terms of regional focus, my research has so far mostly dealt with European and Transatlantic presence on the African continent (Somalia, Libya, Darfur) as well as with the EU's neighbourhood policy (MENA).
  2. Comparative politics: regionalism and sub-regionalism, and a specific (but not exclusive) interest in small state foreign and security policy, with a focus on Northern (Sweden, Finland and the Baltic States) and Central Europe (Austria and Hungary).
Current PhD students:

Andrea Christou (co-supervision with Dr Chad Damro)

Alex Ba-Tin (primary supervisor, co-supervision with Dr Kasia Kaczmarska)

Gent Cakaj (co-supervision with Dr Benjamin Martill) 

Topics interested in supervising

Global, European and Transatlantic Security; European integration; European foreign and security policy; EU-NATO; small state foreign policy; regional autonomies; sub-regionalism; Strategic Studies; Security and Defence Cooperation;

If you are interested in being supervised by Carmen Gebhard, please see the links below (open in new windows) for more information:

Background

Carmen joined the Politics and International Relations subject area in September 2012.

Before coming to Edinburgh, she was based at the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham (2010-2012). From 2007 to 2010 she was at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) in Vienna, holding a Postdoctoral Research Grant by the Volkswagen Foundation. 2006-2007 she was a Research Fellow at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Maastricht, and 2005-2006, she worked as a Policy Researcher at the Austrian Institute for European Security Policy (AIES), a think tank near Vienna, Austria.

Carmen held Visiting Fellowships at i.a. the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels, the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES) near Stockholm and the University of Cambridge (POLIS). She has been a Visiting Lecturer at the Széchenyi István University (Györ, Hungary), the University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur) and the University Sains Malaysia (Penang).

She is a Research Associate of the Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management (IFK) at the National Defence Academy in Vienna, and the Centre of Conflict, Security and Terrorism (CST) at the University of Nottingham. 

Qualifications

  • Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
  • Dr. Phil. (PhD) in Comparative Politics (with distinction), University of Vienna
  • Magister (MA) in Political Science (with distinction), University of Vienna/Stockholm
  • Diploma in Modern History (with distinction), University of Vienna 
  • Between 2008 and 2011, Carmen was also a PhD candidate in Military Science/Security Studies at the National Defence University of Hungary (ZMNE) until ZMNE was disbanded and the follow-up institution made virtually inaccessible to foreign students (this was one of the many sweeping and radical changes enacted by the Fidesz government).

Teaching

  • Analysing European Governance and Public Policy, an official "Jean Monnet Module" (PG) funded by the European Commission
  • Strategic Studies and its Critics (Hons)
  • Advanced Topics in Global Security (Hons) 
  • Global Security (Hons)
  • Intro to Politics & International Relations (Pre-Hons) 
  • Global Security (Hons) 
  • Democracies in Comparative Perspective (Pre-Hons)
  • Institutions and Policies of the EU
  • Comparative Politics (Hons)

Publications

Monographs:

(2008) Unravelling the Baltic Sea Conundrum. Regionalism and European Integration Reconsidered. Baden-Baden: Nomos.

(2005) Neutralität und Europäische Integration. Österreich und Schweden im sicherheitspolitischen Vergleich. [German: Neutrality and European Integration. Austria and Sweden in Comparison.] Schriftenreihe der Landesverteidigungsakademie 9/2005.

Edited Volumes

(2017) with Simon J. Smith: Special Issue 'EU-NATO Relations. Running on the Fumes of Informed Deconfliction?' European Security, Vol. 26 (3).  

(2013) Special Issue: 'A European Approach to Comprehensive Security?' European Foreign Affairs Review, Vol. 18 (4).

(2010) with David Galbreath: Cooperation or Conflict? Problematizing Organizational Overlap in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate.

(2010) with Walter Feichtinger: Globale Sicherheit - Europäische Potenziale. [German: Global Security - European Capabilities] Vienna: Böhlau.

(2006) with Walter Feichtinger: Krisenmanager EU. Optionen, Chancen, Grenzen. [German: The European Union as a Crisis Manager: Options, Opportunities, Limitations]. Schriftenreihe der Landesverteidigungsakademie 9/2006, Vienna.

Special Issues as Journal Editor

(2018) 'Defence Planning as Strategic Fact', Defence Studies, Vol. 19 (3). 

(2017) 'Defence Industries in the 21st Century: A Comparative Analysis', Defence Studies, Vol. 18 (3).

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

(2023, forthcoming) 'Combined Differentiation in European Defence: Tailoring Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) to Strategic and Political Complexity', Contemporary Security Policy (with Benjamin Martill). 

(2017) 'The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost: a Grounded Theory approach to the comparative Study of NAC and PSC Decision-Making', European Security, Vol. 26(3), 359-378 (with Simon J. Smith and Nikola Tomic). Pre-print version.

(2017) 'The EU and NATO's Dilemmas with Russia and Prospects for Deconfliction', European Security, Vol. 26 (3), 379-397 (with Simon Duke). Pre-print version.

(2015) 'The two faces of EU–NATO cooperation: Counter-piracy operations off the Somali coast, in Cooperation and Conflict, Vol. 50(1), 107-127 (with Simon J. Smith). Doi: 10.1177/0010836714532917. Pre-print version.

(2014) 'Scotland, NATO and Transatlantic Security', in European Security, Vol. 23(3), 307-325 (with C. Fleming). Doi: 10.1080/09662839.2014.903926. Pre-print version.

(2013) 'Is Small Still Beautiful? The Case of Austria', in Swiss Political Science Review, Vol. 19(3), 279-297. Doi: 10.1111/spsr.12042. 

(2013) ‘A European Approach to Comprehensive Security?’, European Foreign Affairs Review, Vol.18(5). ISSN 1384-6299

(2013) 'Soft Competition: Finland, Sweden and the Northern Dimension of the EU', in Scandinavian Political Studies, Vol. 36(4), 365-390. Doi: 10.1111/1467-9477.12007. Pre-print version.

(2011) with Per M. Norheim-Martinsen: 'Making Sense of EU Comprehensive Security: Towards Conceptual and Analytical Clarity', in European Security, Vol. 20(2), 221-241.  Doi: 10.1080/09662839.2011.564613. Pre-print version.

Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters

(2021) 'Levels of Analysis: One World - Many Actors', in Stephen McGlinchey (ed.) International Relations. London/New York: Macmillan, forthcoming.

(2017) 'The Problem of Coherence in the European Union's International Relations', in Christopher Hill/Michael Smith/Sophie Vanhoonacker (eds): International Relations and the European Union (3rd edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 123-142. Pre-print version.

(2017) 'Scandinavian Defence and Alliance Policies: Different Together', in Anders Wivel and Peter Nedergaard (eds): The Routledge Handbook on Scandinavian Politics. London: Routledge, 254-268. Pre-print version.

(2012) 'The Institutional Nature of the EU as a Global Conflict Manager', in Richard Whitman/Stefan Wolff (eds): The EU as a Global Conflict Manager. London: Routledge, 23-32.

(2011) 'Coherence', in Christopher Hill/Michael Smith (eds): International Relations and the European Union (2nd edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 101-127.

(2010) with David Galbreath: 'Problematizing Organizational Overlap in Europe: Introduction, in Galbreath/Gebhard (eds): Cooperation or Conflict? Problematizing Organizational Overlap in Europe. Aldershot: Ashgate. 

(2010) 'The ENP's Strategic Conception and Design. Overstretching the Enlargement Template', in: Richard Whitman/Stefan Wolff (eds): The European Neighbourhood Policy in Perspective. Context, Implementation and Impact. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Chapters in collections:

(2022) 'NATO und die Partnerschaft für den Frieden', in Martin Senn, Franz Eder and Markus Kornprobst (eds) Handbuch zur österreichischen Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik. Vienna: Springer, forthcoming.

(2017) 'European Convention on Human Rights', in Sharon Morley, Paul Taylor, Jo Turner and Karen Corteen (eds): Companion to State Power, Liberties and Rights. Bristol: Policy Press, 82-83. Pre-print version.

(2016) 'One World, Many Actors', in Stephen McGlinchey (ed.) From the Individual to the International: A Beginner's Guide to International Relations. E-International Relations (open access), 32-45. http://www.e-ir.info/2016/12/07/e-ir-foundations-textbook-international-relations/

(2006) 'Krisenmanagement im Rahmen der Europäischen Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik' [German: Introduction to Crisis Managament in the Framework of the European Security and Defence Policy], in: Gebhard/Feichtinger (eds): Krisenmanager EU. Optionen, Chancen, Grenzen. Schriftenreihe der Landesverteidigungsakademie 9/2006, Vienna.

Policy Briefs and Published Working Papers

(2010) 'Sub-Regional Cooperation in Central Europe', in Academic and Applied Research in Military Science (AARMS) 4/2010.

(2009) 'Recalibrating ESDP Conduct and Planning Capacities', in CFSP Forum Vol. 7:4, July 2009. http://www.eu-consent.net/library/fornet/cfsp-forum_vol7_no4.pdf

(2008) 'Civil-Military Coordination and Cooperation in the Context of the EU's Crisis Management', in: INFO aktuell 1/2008, Austrian National Defence Academy.

(2007) Assessing EU Actorness Towards its 'Near Abroad' - The European Neighbourhood Policy. EU-CONSENT Occasional Paper No. 1/2007. http://www.eu-consent.net/library/papers/paper01-2007_gebhard.pdf 

Works within