Expert on Europe

Karen E. Smith is a Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her main area of research is the ‘international relations of the European Union’, and she has written extensively on the formulation and implementation of common EU foreign policies. She has examined the EU’s pursuit of ‘ethical’ foreign policy goals such as promoting human rights and democracy, and policy-making within European states regarding genocide. For over a decade she has also analysed EU-UN relations, and more recently has extended her research to consider the role of other political and regional groups in UN diplomacy. She is now working on projects on women in foreign policy-making and diplomacy, and on the role of that emotions play in EU foreign policy-making. She has a PhD from the LSE, an MA from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a BA from Wellesley College.