Dr Bernhard Blumenau is a Senior Lecturer in International History and Politics at the University of St Andrews’ School of International Relations and the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV). His research interests focus on the historical evolution of German foreign policy and the history of terrorism. In terms of German foreign policy, his work explores long-term trends and patterns, with a particular emphasis on developments since the Second World War. Regarding the history of terrorism, his research encompasses German terrorism and anti-terrorism policies, the complex relationship between terrorism and the Cold War, as well as multilateral anti-terrorism initiatives and the role of international organisations in these efforts. He is currently working on a new research project on the long history of state terrorism, spanning from the Middle Ages to the present day. He is also interested in the relationship between climate change and political violence, as well as the broader history of international relations, diplomacy, and the Cold War.

Dr Blumenau holds degrees from the University of Dresden (Germany) and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Switzerland). During his studies, he also spent a year at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden). He is fluent in German, English, and French, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS) as well as a Member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland (MYAS).

He is the author of The United Nations and Terrorism: Germany, Multilateralism, and Antiterrorism Efforts in the 1970s (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), which examines the rise of international terrorism as a major issue for German foreign policy and the international community, and evaluates the United Nations’ responses to international terrorism in the 1970s. Dr Blumenau is also the co-editor of New Perspectives on the End of the Cold War (Routledge, 2018) and An International History of Terrorism: Western and Non-Western Experiences (Routledge, 2013), as well as the author of articles published in journals such as International Affairs, The Journal of Cold War Studies, Terrorism and Political Violence, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, and The Journal of Contemporary History.

An up-to-date list of his publications and outputs can be found here: https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/persons/bernhard-blumenau/publications/.