Re-examining the US Role in the Northern Ireland Peace Process: Soft Power and Diplomatic Success

Join us for this joint event with the Career Center. In the first hour, Professor White will share his expertise on this topic, and the second hour students will learn about his career path and be able to ask questions. Lunch and refreshments will be provided.

Timothy J. White is Professor of Political Science at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. A native of St. Louis, White earned his BA and MA degrees from the University of Missouri and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He has twice been a Visiting Researcher at the National University of Ireland-Galway. His research interests include International Relations and US Foreign Policy with a focus on Northern Ireland. His recent publications include “American Diplomacy and Economic Aid in the Northern Ireland Peace Process: A Neoliberal Analysis,” Open Library of Humanities 4 (1) (2018): 1-19 and “Consociation, Conditionality and Commitment: Making Peace in Northern Ireland” in Consociationalism and Power-Sharing: Arend Lijphart’s Theory of Political Accommodation (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, pp. 85-102). His current projects on the role of the US in Northern Ireland include research with Emily Pausa entitled, “From the Sidelines to Mediating Peace: John Hume, Irish-America, Foreign Policy Entrepreneurs, and the US in Northern Ireland,” “Third Parties as External Actors in Peace Processes: Comparing the Role of the US and the EU in Northern Ireland” with Mary C. Murphy, and “Re-evaluating the Role of the US in the Northern Ireland Peace Process: Taking Dixon’s Theatrical Metaphor Seriously.” White has edited two volumes on Northern Irish Politics: Theories of International Relations and Northern Ireland published by Manchester University Press in 2017 and Lessons from the Northern Ireland Peace Process published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2013. White has twice served as the Social Science Representative for the American Conference for Irish Studies and for four years chaired the Donnelly Prize Committee that annually selects the best book published in Irish history and the social sciences. White has also been selected three times to serve on the Fulbright Committee which screens and ranks applications from American students seeking to study at Irish Universities.