Biography

For the past number of years my research has gradually evolved from its initial empirical focus on policing and liberal internationalism towards a more critical stance on the relationship between police, war and global security. My early research on police reform in the Balkans demonstrated how international security was increasingly defined and being addressed on policing rather than traditional military terms. Exploring the historical development of this emergent dimension of international relations led me from an interest into how space is governed/policed towards studies of maritime security. Hence, my current research is concerned with spatial strategies of security and the maritime environment and the implications for IR theory of a critical turn towards the politics of sea.

I have worked as a development worker for a number of years in northern Namibia. I have also worked with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the United Nations Development Programme and with Irish Aid on security reforms in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and Caucus region. I am a member of the editorial boards of Capital and Class, Journal of the Indian Ocean Region and Regional Security (University of Belgrade).  Prior to joining SPIRE in September 2009, I have lectured at the University of Limerick, Dublin City University and at Lancaster University in the fields of International Relations theory, Security Studies and Conflict studies.

My research article ‘Reasonable Force: the emergence of global policing power’, published in Review of International Studies, received the British International Studies Association Best Article 2013 award.

Research and scholarship

  • The Balkans
  • Police Power and IR
  • Security/Development nexus
  • Statebuilding and Liberal Peace
  • Critical security studies

Teaching

  • Contemporary International Relations Theory
  • Policing International Order
  • Introduction to Global Politics
  • Perspectives in International Relations
  • The Theory of Global Security

Research Monograph

  • (2011 forthcoming) Police Reform and Statebuilding: The Freedom of Security. London: Routledge.

Policy Reports:

  • (2008); A Review of Irish Aid's Partnership Programme for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Irish Aid. Department of Foreign Affairs. Dublin
  • (2006); An Evaluation of the UNDP’s Support to Security Sector Reform in the Republic of Albania, UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery – Justice and Security Sector Reform: Publication IV.

 Consultancy Reports:

  • (2010); Police Perception and Police Reform in Montenegro. Podgorica: OSCE Mission to Montenegro. 
  • (2002); Police Perceptions of Community Policing in Serbia. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Mission to Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Belgrade.
  • (2004); Police Perceptions of Community Policing in the Republic of Montenegro. Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Mission to Serbia and Montenegro. Podgorica.

Selected Publications

  • Ryan BJ. 2019. The disciplined sea: a history of maritime security and zonation. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 1055-1073, vol. 95(5). link> doi>
  • Ryan BJ. 2019. Becoming Montenegrin: biopower, police reform and human rights. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 476-492, vol. 23(4). link> doi> full text>
  • Ryan BJ. 2019. Standing Acts: The Political Aesthetics of Defiant Resistance. International Political Sociology, vol. 13(2). full text>
  • Ryan BJ. 2015. Security spheres: A phenomenology of maritime spatial practices. SECURITY DIALOGUE, 568-584, vol. 46(6). link> doi> full text>
  • Ryan BJ. 2013. Reasonable Force: The Emergence of Global Policing Power. Review of International Studies, 435-457, vol. 39(2). doi>

Full Publications Listshow

Books

  • Ryan BJ, Bosilca R, Ferreira S (Eds.). 2022. The Routledge Handbook of Maritime Security. (32 vols.). Routledge.
  • Ryan BJ. 2011. Statebuilding and Police Reform: The Freedom of Security. Oxford: Routledge. link>

Journal Articles

  • Bueger C, Edmunds T, Ryan BJ. 2019. Maritime security: the uncharted politics of the global sea. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 971-978, vol. 95(5). link> doi> full text>
  • Ryan BJ. 2019. The disciplined sea: a history of maritime security and zonation. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, 1055-1073, vol. 95(5). link> doi>
  • Ryan BJ. 2019. Becoming Montenegrin: biopower, police reform and human rights. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 476-492, vol. 23(4). link> doi> full text>
  • Ryan BJ. 2019. Standing Acts: The Political Aesthetics of Defiant Resistance. International Political Sociology, vol. 13(2). full text>
  • Ryan BJ. 2019. Standing Acts: The Political Aesthetics of Defiant Resistance. INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY, 111-127, vol. 13(2). link> doi>
  • Aradau C, Kratochwil F, Ryan BJ, Gholiagha S, Tallis B. 2017. Platonic Speleology And Peter Sloterdijk's Theory Of Pseudonymous Politics, from Forum ‘On Pseudonymous Politics: Regarding Implicit and Explicit Misconceptions of Democracy’ by Peter Sloterdijk. New Perspectives, 69-102, vol. 25(2).
  • Ryan BJ. 2016. Climate Terror: A Critical Geopolitics of Climate Change. Capital and Class, 560-562, vol. 40(3).
  • Ryan BJ. 2015. Security spheres: A phenomenology of maritime spatial practices. SECURITY DIALOGUE, 568-584, vol. 46(6). link> doi> full text>
  • Ryan BJ. 2013. Zones and Routes: Securing a western Indian Ocean. Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, 173-188, vol. 9(2). doi>
  • Ryan BJ. 2013. Reasonable Force: The Emergence of Global Policing Power. Review of International Studies, 435-457, vol. 39(2). doi>
  • RYAN BJ and Worth O. 2010. On the Contemporary Relevance of ‘Left Nationalism’. Capital and Class, 54-60, vol. 34(1). doi>
  • RYAN BJ. 2009. The EU's Emergent Security-First Agenda: Securing Albania and Montenegro. Security Dialogue, 311-332, vol. 40(3). doi>
  • RYAN BJ. 2008. Northern Ireland’s District Policing Partnerships and the Participatory Ideal. Irish Political Studies, 341-362, vol. 23(3). doi>
  • RYAN BJ. 2008. The Logic of a Justified Hope: The Dialectic of Police Reform in Northern Ireland. Capital and Class, 83-108. doi>
  • RYAN BJ. 2007. Quasi-Pluralism in a Quasi-Peace: South Serbia’s Multi-Ethnic Police. International Peacekeeping, 282-297, vol. 14(2). doi>
  • RYAN B. All That’s Constant is Change: A Brief Political History of Police Reforms in Serbia. Western Balkans Security Observer, 11-19, vol. 11. link> full text>
  • RYAN BJ. 2007. What the Police is Supposed to Do: Contrasting Expectations of Community Policing in Serbia. Policing and Society, 1-20, vol. 17(1). doi> full text>

Chapters

  • Ryan B, Bosilca R, Ferreira S. 2022. Introduction: Surveying the Sea. In The Routledge Handbook of Maritime Security. Routledge. link> full text>
  • Ryan B. 2022. Maritime Security in a Critical Context. In The Routledge Handbook of Maritime Security. Ryan BJ, Bosilca R, Ferreira S (Eds.). (31 vols.). Routledge. link> link> full text>
  • Ryan B. 2022. Maritime Security in a Critical Context. In The Routledge Handbook of Maritime Security. Ryan BJ, Bosilca R, Ferreira S (Eds.). (31 vols.). Routledge. link> link> full text>
  • Ryan BJ. 2019. Zones at Sea and the Properties of Connectivity: (a)roundness, (imm)unity and liquidity. In Imaginaries of Connectivity: the Creation of Novel Spaces of Governance. Lobo-Guerrero L, Alt S, Meijer M (Eds.). Rowman and Littlefield. full text>
  • Ryan BJ. 2014. A Mediterranean Police Assemblage. In War, Police and Assemblages of Intervention. Bachmann J, Bell C, Holmqvist C (Eds.). (10 vols.). Routledge. full text>
  • RYAN B. 2010. Policing the State of Exception in Kosovo. In Kosovo, intervention and statebuilding. Hehir A (Ed.). Taylor & Francis.

PhD Supervision

I am interested in supervising doctoral dissertations that explore themes in global security and critical theory.

Please see my research and scholarship tab for more details about my area of expertise.

Further information is available on studying in SPIRE, including funding available for pursuing a doctoral research degree.

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