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TAYLOR
ROBERTSON
MCDONALD, Ph.d.
Visiting Scholar In-Residence
Department of Foreign Policy and Global Security
School of International Service
American University
Washington, D.C.
trmcdonald@american.edu
ABOUT ME
My expertise is in the examination of the relationship between national identity and foreign policy, particularly through the deployment of critical approaches in International Relations. My research explores the current U.S.-led international order (and its challenges) primarily from the vantage point of America's closest historical allies, like Canada, as they navigate the politics of alliance diplomacy and their own identity concerns during this increasingly tumultuous 'moment' in world politics. For more on my research, see here.
I am the author of the monograph Identity Discourses and Canadian Foreign Policy in the War on Terror (2023) which is part of Palgrave Macmillan's "Canada and International Affairs" series dedicated to timely policy-related research regarding Canada's place in the world. For more on this book series, see here. For more on my book, see here.
Currently, I am a Visiting Scholar in-Residence at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C. I received my Ph.D. in political science, with a focus in international relations and political theory from the University of Florida. In 2021-2022, I was a post-doctoral fellow at the Taube Centre for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences at The Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.
I am a passionate and dedicated teacher, having been awarded several honors as an instructor. I teach courses in International Relations, frequently on foreign policy and IR theories. My teaching experience is within very diverse contexts, from large auditoriums at the University of Florida to small policy school courses at American University. I have also taught in the European Union's ERASMUS program. For more on my teaching, see here.