Hard Vs. Soft Power

Foreign Policy Strategies in Contemporary International Relations

(Cambridge University, UK; June 23rd - 26th, 2010)

Prof. Inderjeet Parmar

Head of Politics, Manchester University; Vice-Chair, UK International Studies Association

Professor Inderjeet Parmar heads the University of Manchester’s Politics Department where he lectures on US foreign policy and Anglo-American relations and researches the role of institutions such as Rockefeller, Carnegie, Ford, the German Marshall Fund of the US, and Foundations in shaping US foreign policy, promoting Americanism, and combating anti-Americanism abroad.

After studying Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Sociology at the University of London, and obtaining his doctorate at the University of Manchester, Professor Parmar joined Manchester University’s Department of Government as a lecturer in 1996. His research interests focus on the history, politics and sociology of Anglo-American foreign policy elites over the past 100 years as embodied in such groups as philanthropic foundations, think tanks, policy research institutes, university foreign affairs institutes, and state agencies. His research covers the period from the Cold War to the present era of globalization.

More recently, he has turned his attention to Anti-Americanism, post-9-11 US foreign policy shifts, and the changing character of the US foreign policy Establishment. He is also working on a long-term project on why Britain almost invariably backs the United States in wars, from Korea 1950 to Iraq 2003.

Together with Michael Cox, he edited the volume Soft Power and US Foreign Policy: Theoretical, Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Routledge, 2010). Professor Parmar currently serves as Vice Chair of the British International Studies Association, co-convenor of the BISA Working Group on US Foreign Policy, and co-editor of the Routledge book series on US Foreign Policy. He was Treasurer of the British International Studies Association, 2001-2004.