Scott Thomas

Dr Scott Thomas is an American who lectures in International Relations and the Politics of Developing Countries. He studied in the School of International Service at the American University, Washington, DC before going to the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics for his MSc and PhD.

He taught at universities in the United States, Switzerland, and South Africa before coming to Bath in 1994 where he is a permanent member of the teaching staff.

At Bath he teaches a variety of courses on international relations.

Dr Thomas has a research programme which centres on how the global resurgence of culture and religion have transformed international relations. It challenges the existing constructions of culture, religion, and identity, and examines the impact of culture and religion on key areas in international relations - conflict, cooperation, diplomacy, peace-making, inter-religious dialogue, and economic development.

He writes for a variety of journals, and speaks widely on the role of religion in international relations today to both academic organizations, such as the International Studies Association, and to a variety of NGOs, governments, religious groups, and other organizations.

Recent speaking engagements include the Dutch and Canadian foreign ministries, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican, the Netherlands Chapter of the Society for International Development, the International Federation of Catholic Universities, and Sandhurst, the Royal Military Academy.

He is a contributing editor to The Review of Faith & International Affairs, and is also involved in inter-religious dialogue between British Catholics and a variety of Shia clerics from Iran sponsored by Heythop College, the University of London.

Research Interests

• the global resurgence of religion and the transformation of international relations
• impact of culture and religion on conflict, cooperation, diplomacy, peace-making, inter-religious dialogue, and economic development