Our research

Our expertise is frequently called upon for trusted academic commentary in the wider press. Below are some of their most notable appearances.

• Read the article in The Conversation by Professor Emil Kirchner entitled EU-Japan Trade Deal Comes into Force to Create World’s Biggest Trade Zone.
• Read the blog post in The London Stock Exchange Business Review by Professor Han Dorussen on Why the EU-Japan Trade Deal Matters for the UK.
• Professors Kirchner and Dorussen were interviewed on the BBC World Service and on Bulgarian National Radio.

Our research outcomes are published in a steady stream of book chapters and edited volumes, which are frequently quoted and utilised by organisations and institutions. A selection of their work is included below.

• The European Union’s Security Relations with Asian Partners, co-edited by Emil Kirchner and others, was published in June 2021 by Palgrave Macmillan. 

• The Rule of Law in the European Union: The Internal Dimension by Professor Theodore Konstadinides. This work was quoted by the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the EU in Case C-414/16 Egenberger [2017] ECLI:EU:C:2017:851, concerning the extent to which occupational requirements of religious organisations may be judicially reviewed.

• The European Union and China co-authored by Professor Emil Kirchner. This book received outstanding reviews in prestigious journals and generated much interest.

• The European Union Encyclopedia and Directory co-authored by Professor Emil Kirchner. This work focuses on the social framework of the European Union.

• The Palgrave Handbook of EU-Asia Relations co-edited by Professor Emil Kirchner. This text is a standard reference book for anyone with an interest in EU-Asia relations.

• EU-Japan Security Cooperation: Trends and Prospects co-edited by Professor Han Dorussen and Professor Emil Kirchner. The book has been recommended by the Council of the European Union for those interested in the EU’s relations with Japan. 

• Security Relations between China and the European Union: From Convergence to Cooperation? co-edited by Professor Han Dorussen and Professor Emil Kirchner.

• China’s perception of the EU after Brexit and its influence on China-EU relations, a chapter co-authored by Professor Emil Kirchner in Changing Perceptions of the EU at Times of Brexit: Global Perspectives.
• Human Rights, Childhood Obesity and Health Inequalities, co-authored by Professor Nikhil Gokani in: Ending Childhood Obesity - A Challenge at the Crossroads of International Economic and Human Rights Law.

Our members regularly act as referees, editors, authors and contributors to leading journals in the fields of European and international relations. We have worked with journals such as; European Security, European Foreign Affairs Review, European Journal of Political Research, European Law Review, International Organization and the Journal of European Public Policy.

Some of our most prestigious articles are highlighted below:

• China and the European Union in the online Oxford Research Encyclopedias, Politics, by Professor Emil Kirchner.
• New horizons in EU-Japan security cooperation by Professor Emil Kirchner and Professor Han Dorussen in the Asia Europe Journal
• The imaginative struggles of Europe by Dr Caspar Pearson in the journal City
• How women in the executive influence government stability co-authored by Dr Svenja Krauss in the Journal of European Public Policy
• Extra-coalitional policy bargaining: Investigating the power of committee chairs by Dr Svenja Krauss The Journal of Legislative Studies
• Judicial independence and the Rule of Law in the context of non-execution of a European Arrest Warrant: LM by Professor Theodore Konstadinides in Common Market Law Review
• Topic coverage of coalition agreements in multi-level settings: The case of Germany co-authored by Dr Svenja Krauss in German Politics
• The legal nature and character of Memoranda of Understanding as instruments used by the European Central Bank by Professor Theodore Konstadinides in European Law Review
• On the frontline every day? Subnational deployment of United Nations peacekeepers co-authored by Professor Han Dorussen in the British Journal of Political Science
• Political initiatives and peacekeeping: Assessing multiple UN conflict resolution tools co-authored by Professor Han Dorussen in Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy
• Stability through control? The influence of coalition agreements on the stability of coalition cabinets by Dr Svenja Krauss in West European Politics
• Security cooperation in EU-China relations: Towards convergence? co-authored by Professor Han Dorussen and Professor Emil Kirchner in European Foreign Affairs Review
• Winning the peace locally: UN peacekeeping and local conflict co-authored by Professor Han Dorussen in International Organization
• Regulation for health inequalities and non-communicable diseases: In want of (effective) behavioural insights by Professor Nikhil Gokani in the European Law Journal
• For a Children’s Rights Approach to Obesity Prevention: The Key Role of an Effective Implementation of the WHO Recommendations co-authored by Professor Nikhil Gokani in the European Journal of Risk Regulation

Some of our most notable roles are highlighted below:

• Dr Theodore Konstadinides is Senior Editor of the Nordic Journal of European Law
• Professor Emil Kirchner is Advisory Editor and Chair of the Advisory Editorial Board of the Journal of European Integration and and a member of the editorial board of European Security; Studia Diplomatica – The Brussels Journal of International Relation; theJournal Perspectives in European Politics and Society; and the Human Security Perspectives Journal.
• Professor Han Dorussen is Associate Editor of the Journal of Peace Research and Research and Politics and a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the European Journal of International Relations and International Interactions

Our members are working continuously on a number of forthcoming publications. Below is a brief description of some of their upcoming output:

• Professor Theodore Konstadinides is currently working on a new monograph on constitutional law and UK foreign policy which will be published by Oxford University Press. The aim of the book is to explore the constitutional limits to executive power in the conduct of foreign policy.
• Dr Diana Bullen Presciutti is working on two publications that look comparatively at Italy and the Low Countries: Art and Architecture of Foundling Hospitals and Orphanages for the online Routledge Encyclopedia of the Renaissance World; and Signs of Belonging: Identifying Foundlings and Orphans in Early Modern Europe.

A book launch event was held at the University of Essex in 2022. The public event took stock of recent trends in EU-Asia relations by showcasing recent publications stemming from the EU-Asia Security and Trade (EAST) project.

Via two panels – one focused on security and the other on trade relations – the event discussed the growing economic and security relevance of the Indo-Pacific to European interests, but also whether and how Europe can remain a relevant and equal partner in the region amidst Russia’s war in Ukraine, increased tensions in East Asia, the energy and food crises, and a looming recession.

Speakers included Han Dorussen (Essex), Emil Kirchner (Essex), Alexandra Hennessy (Essex), Johan Adriaensen (Maastricht), Evangelos Fanoulis (Galway), Bill Hayton (Chatham House), Stefan Kirchner (Head of Policy Planning, FCO), and Tereza Novotny (Free University Berlin).

Two conferences took place for participants in both the trade and security projects, in Berlin and Singapore in 2019. Distinguished guests presented their views of current challenges and the future outlook for EU-Asia relations. A workshop for authors of the security volume followed later in 2019 in Rome. Book launch events are now under way for the volume on The European Union’s Security Relations with Asian Partners.

A PhD Colloquium, a final dissemination conference and a student essay competition are planned under the auspices of the EAST project. For more information, see the EAST project website

The book launch for EU-Japan Security Cooperation: Trends and Prospects was held in November 2018 and hosted at the European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) in Brussels.

A public round table event entitled: EU-Japan Security Cooperation in Context was hosted at the University of Essex in June 2018.

Professor Han Dorussen presented research findings on EU-Japan Security Cooperation at Waseda University, Tokyo on 11 July 2019.

The same findings were also presented at the European Union in International Affairs (EUIA) conference in Brussels on 17 May 2018 and at the Academic Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) 48th annual conference in Bath on 3-5 September 2019.

Professor Emil Kirchner gave a talk on EU-China Relations and Brexit at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on 15 May 2019, and at the People’s University of Beijing on 9 July 2019. 

In November 2019 Professor Emil Kirchner was invited to South Korea to give a keynote address at the conference of the Asia Economic Community Forum in Seoul. The address was entitled: The Jean Monnet Method and its Relevance for Northeast Asia Regional Cooperation.

Dr Caspar Pearson gave a presentation on Leon Battista Alberti at prestigious institutes in Florence, Italy in March 2018. He also gave presentations at the University of Oxford in June 2017 and February 2019.

Professor Emil Kirchner was invited to give a presentation at Korea University entitled: The EU’s Strategy Connecting Europe to Asia and the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative: Partners or Rivals? in November 2019. 

On 13 May 2019, Professor Emil Kirchner gave a talk entitled: EU-China Relations in a Changing Global Context, at the College of Europe in Brussels, at the international conference on EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation. Later that day he delivered the same talk at a seminar entitled: Prospects for EU-US Relations: Opportunities and Challenges, hosted at the European External Action Service in Brussels. In October 2019 he was invited to give a presentation on the same topic at the Technical University Berlin.

Professor Emil Kirchner gave a presentation entitled The Changing Context of EU-China Relations at the webinar “The European Union as a Global Player” on 10 May 2021 hosted by Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal.  

Professor Emil Kirchner gave a presentation Will the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment significantly alter the pattern of EU-China Relations? at the conference “East meets West: Reviewing Post-Covid Economic, Business, Innovation and Politics, Centre for Britain and Europe”, organised by the University of Surrey in March 2021.