Barry Buzan and the Big Picture in IR

Barry Buzan, one of the most influential scholars in the field of International Relations, is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, a Fellow of the British Academy, and one of Europe’s most prolific IR scholars. Over a career spanning several decades, his work has reshaped how we think about international security, the English School, world history, and global international society. He is renowned for his interdisciplinary collaborations and his commitment to making complex ideas accessible -- what has become known as his ‘big picture’ approach to the study of International Relations, influencing generations of scholars worldwide.

The evening at CSD (where Barry was himself once a Professor!) marks the launch of The Big Picture as an Approach to the Study of International Relations: Thinking With and Beyond Barry Buzan, edited by Rita Floyd and Laust Schouenborg (Cambridge University Press, 2026). This volume features a detailed analysis of Buzan’s ‘big picture’ approach and its value to the IR discipline and related social sciences. Contributors use his intellectual project as a stepping stone to reflect on the broader value of big picture thinking across five scholarly fields: IR theory, the English School, world history, international security studies, and international political economy. In the concluding chapter, Barry Buzan himself reflects on the undertaking and the path forward.

Book details: Cambridge University Press

International Relations scholars Professor Rita Floyd (University of Birmingham), Dr Emel Akçali (King’s College London), Professor Robert Falkner (London School of Economics), and Dr Cornelia Navari will discuss with Barry Buzan their engagement with his ideas and work. In conversation with Professor Nitasha Kaul (Centre for the Study of Democracy), Professor Buzan will reflect on his career and share his advice for IR scholars, followed by questions and contributions from the audience. The evening will conclude with a drinks reception.

Barry Buzan is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the LSE (formerly Montague Burton Professor), honorary professor at Copenhagen, Jilin, and China Foreign Affairs Universities, and at the University of International Relations (Beijing), and a Senior Fellow at LSE Ideas. In 1998 he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy. From 1999–2011 he was general coordinator of a project to reconvene the English School of International Relations, and from 2004–2008 he was editor of the European Journal of International Relations. His recent books include: with Robert Falkner (eds.) Great Power Responsibility and Global Environmental Politics (2022); Making Global Society: A Study of Humankind Across Three Eras (2023); with Robert Falkner (2025) The Market and Global International Society: An English School Approach to International Political Economy; Timelines for Modernity: Rethinking Periodization for Global International Relations (2025); with Mathias Albert (eds.) The Anthropocene Crisis: A World System Science Approach (forthcoming 2026).

Dr Emel Akçali, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at King’s College London, has contributed to the discipline of International Relations for nearly two decades, with research interests covering conflict studies, critical geopolitics, neoliberal governmentality, and global IR. Her work explores questions of power, security, and the environment, providing perspectives that engage with and sometimes challenge established approaches in the field. Her research has been supported by various institutions, including the British Academy, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), and the Fondation Robert Schuman. She has held resident fellowships at the Central European University Institute of Advanced Study and the Aix-Marseille University Institute of Advanced Study as a world-class scholar. Dr Akçalı is the author of Chypre: Un enjeu géopolitique actuel (l’Harmattan, 2009). Her upcoming book, Türkiye Going Green: Navigating Ecology and Geopolitics, is scheduled for publication with Edinburgh University Press in 2026.

Robert Falkner is Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research and teaching focuses on international political economy, global environmental politics, and the role of business in international relations. His recent books include The Market in Global International Society: An English School Approach to International Political Economy (co-authored, Oxford University Press, 2025), Great Powers, Climate Change, and Global Environmental Responsibilities (co-edited, Oxford University Press, 2022), and Environmentalism and Global International Society (Cambridge University Press, 2021). His new book on Green Political Economy will be published by Polity in 2026.

Rita Floyd (PhD, University of Warwick 2007) is Professor of International Security and Ethics in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham and co-editor-in-chief of International Affairs. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and four monographs, including The Morality of Security: A Theory of Just Securitization (2019) and The Duty to Secure: From Just to Mandatory Securitization (2024), both published with Cambridge University Press.

Nitasha Kaul is Professor of Politics, International Relations, and Critical Interdisciplinary Studies, and Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at the University of Westminster. A multidisciplinary scholar whose career began in economics and philosophy before spanning fiction, poetry, and international relations, she is the author of over 155 publications including the monograph Imagining Economics Otherwise (Routledge, 2007), the Man Asian Literary Prize shortlisted novel Residue (2014), and peer-reviewed research in journals including International Studies Review, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Review of International Studies, Journal of Asian Studies, and Cambridge Journal of Economics. Her conceptual innovations, including "Electorally Legitimated Misogynist Authoritarian (ELMA)" and "Postcolonial Neoliberal Nationalism (PNN)", have made key contributions to the study of democratic backsliding and authoritarianism. She has provided expert testimony at the U.S. Congress and an expert report on transnational repression for the U.S. Department of Justice. Her work and views have been featured in several hundred interviews across global media including the BBC, CNN, Financial Times, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. On Twitter/X @NitashaKaul.

Cornelia Navari (BA Columbia; MSc Econ London; PhD Birmingham, UK) was Associate Professor at the University of Birmingham and Visiting Professor at the University of Buckingham, UK. She is the author of The International Society Tradition, From Hugo Grotius to Hedley Bull (2021); Public Intellectuals and International Affairs: Public Thinkers and Political Projects (2013); and Internationalism and the State in the 20th Century (2000). She has edited Nineteenth Century America in the Society of States with Yannis A. Stivachtis (2024) and International Organization in the Anarchical Society with Tonny Brems Knudsen (2019), among other edited volumes. She was named Distinguished Scholar by the English School Section of the International Studies Association in 2019.

Info: Chair: Professor Rita Floyd (University of Birmingham).
Panellists: Dr Cornelia Navari, Dr Emel Akçali (King’s College London), Professor Robert Falkner (London School of Economics).
Respondent: Professor Barry Buzan

Info: Professor Barry Buzan will share his reflections and his advice for IR scholars, in response to questions from Professor Nitasha Kaul, followed by an open Q&A with the audience

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