Irish History Lecture: Ireland, the UK and Security in Europe – Towards New Policy Thinking?

Russia’s escalated aggression in Ukraine has devasted security in Europe, renewing focus on security links between Western states, including between the UK and Ireland. An international system where Eurasian autocracies (Russia, China, Iran and North Korea) are undermining Western democracies has replaced the immediate post-Cold War “peace dividend”. The UK and Ireland share a firm commitment to foreign policy based on liberal democratic values, but mutual security cooperation between neighbours with shared strategic concerns remains underdeveloped. This presentation discusses the current politics of historical legacies obstructing stronger UK-Irish security cooperation and evaluates options on how some obstacles might be overcome. 

About Eoin Micheál McNamara

Eoin Micheál McNamara is a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA). He previously taught extensively in International Relations at the University of Tartu in Estonia between 2013 and 2020. His main research interests include: transatlantic relations; US grand strategy; NATO; transformation of war; and security in northern and eastern Europe. He has published in the NATO Review, the Revue Militaire Suisse, the Defence Forces Review, Irish Studies in International Affairs and in edited volumes published by Routledge and Palgrave MacMillan, among other outlets.

His television, radio and newspaper commentary on security, defence and international affairs has featured in Finland’s main media publications including Helsingin Sanomat, Ilta-Sanomat, YLE, YLE Svenska, Kauppalehti, Aamulehti, Turun Sanomat and Huvudstabadet and globally with outlets such as BBC World, Al-Jazeera, Euronews, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the Times of London, the New York Times, El Pais, the Irish Times and Ireland’s national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He has previously been awarded visiting research fellowships at the Institute of International Relations (IIR) in Prague, Czech Republic (2019); at the Centre for War Studies (CWS), University of Southern Denmark (2020); and at FIIA (2021-22).

Eoin’s area of expertise include: Transatlantic relations; US grand strategy; NATO; transformation of war; security in northern and eastern Europe.

Degrees: PhD candidate in political science, University of Tartu
(Dissertation: “The Risk Society and Deterioration in Stabilization Policy: US Leadership, the NATO Alliance and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan”):

MSc in security studies, University College London, 2011

MA in European Union – Russia studies, University of Tartu, 2011

BA international (Hons.) in history and politics, University College Dublin (year three at University of Bergen), 2009:

Languages: English, Irish, (Estonian, German).

Publications: 

01 / 2024   Nuclear arms control policies and safety in artificial intelligence: Transferable lessons or false equivalence?

07 / 2022  US global security partnerships in the Biden era: Twilight or regeneration?

12 / 2021   The Powell Doctrine and the US-led transformation of war: Resurrection or obsolescence?

Project: Eoin is currently taking part in The Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA) research consortium REMIT 

Reignite Multilateralism via Technology

Eion Micheál McNamara grew up in Carrick-on-Suir, County. Tipperary, of which he has very many happy memories. He currently lives in Helsinki.