Pauline Sophie Heinrichs, Nina Krickel-Choi, Jennifer Mitzen, and Brent Steele discuss ontological security studies with hosts Dan and Patrick, exploring its theory and practice.
20 Jul 2026
Episode 1: Gates of the West
We're baaack!In the inaugural episode of the second season of Whiskey and International Relations Theory, PTJ and Dan discuss Samuel Huntington's (in)famous 1996 book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. This episode's pairing: Glen Scotia Double Cask whisky. Other works mentioned include: Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, Facts and Explanations in International Studies...and beyond, and Joseph MacKay & Christopher David LaRoche, "Why Is There No Reactionary International Theory?"Our theme music, "Dragons," was written and performed by Beth DeSombre, and is used with her permission.
15 Oct 2023
Episode 33: Status? You Just Met Us!
[audio updated to fix a mixing error]
The second installment of our live taping at the British International Studies Association annual convention in Glasgow is a "Whisky Optional" roundtable on status and international-relations theory. Our guests are: Ali Bilgic (https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/experts/ali-bilgic/) of Loughborough University, Michelle Murray (https://www.bard.edu/faculty/details/?id=2771)of Bard College, Rohan Mukherjee (https://www.rohanmukherjee.net/home)of the London School of Economics, and Steven Ward (https://stevenmward.wordpress.com) of the University of Cambridge.
The taping was sponsored by the Clydeside Distillery (https://www.theclydeside.com).
Related readings: Ali Bilgic, Turkey, Power and the West: Gendered International Relations and Foreign Policy (https://www.academia.edu/20182166/Turkey_Power_and_the_West_Gendered_International_Relations_and_Foreign_Policy); Michelle Murray, The Struggle for Recognition in International Relations: Status, Revisionism, and Rising Powers (https://academic.oup.com/book/35228); Rohan Mukherjee, Ascending Order: Rising Powers and the Politics of Status in International Institutions (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/ascending-order/84A0CB01DF8092C9946E8A9455FD1E7A); and Steven Ward, Status and the Challenge of Rising Powers (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/status-and-the-challenge-of-rising-powers/DC630805EDF25A898432962982803138).
Some articles mentioned include (implicitly or explicitly) include: Ward, "Lost in Translation: Social Identity Theory and the Study of Status in World Politics (https://academic.oup.com/isq/article/61/4/821/4658792)," Larson and Shevchenko, "Status seekers: Chinese and Russian responses to US primacy (https://direct.mit.edu/isec/article-abstract/34/4/63/11984/Status-Seekers-Chinese-and-Russian-Responses-to-U)," and Musgrave and Nexon, "Defending Hierarchy from the Moon to the Indian Ocean: Symbolic Capital and Political Dominance in Early Modern China and the Cold War (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-organization/article/defending-hierarchy-from-the-moon-to-the-indian-ocean-symbolic-capital-and-political-dominance-in-early-modern-china-and-the-cold-war/1A48863DA2EE573CA0899DF939CCEE1D)."
An important edited collection on status and international politics is Status and World Politics (https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/status-in-world-politics/267430979A153FC2B7CD70E257611C64), eds. Paul, Larson, and Wohlforth.
The classic "chickens" article is Ivan D. Chase, "Social Process and Hierarchy Formation in Small Groups: A Comparative Perspective (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ivan-Chase/publication/237676095_Social_Process_and_Hierarchy_Formation_in_Small_Groups_A_Comparative_Perspective/links/02e7e53432551f0ab5000000/Social-Process-and-Hierarchy-Formation-in-Small-Groups-A-Comparative-Perspective.pdf)."
Inside a recent episode
Episode 2: Being and Insecurity
Published 16 Oct 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] Is that correct? That's definitely correct. I mean, it's a security of the sense of self. And as we think about who is the self that conventional IR talks about a lot, it's often the state self. Rather than thinking about just identity as a category, are we securing our identity or are we securing our territory? It's the view of a sense of self which encompasses who Part of who members of a state think they are is based on a narrative that links identity and territory all the way down. And so these two things can't be artificially separated, or they can be. And they certainly, you know, people do juxtapose identity security with physical security. […]
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