Dr. Thomas Peak
Associate Professor
Department
Department of International Relations
Research areas
International Relations
Research
Language(s) of War
Additional info
thomas.peak@tspmi.vu.lt
ORCID iD 
LinkedIn 
Personal website
Dr Peak obtained his PhD in Political Science (International Relations) from Central European University in 2019. He holds a Master’s degree in Modern European History from Oxford University and a Bachelor’s from Queen Mary, University of London.
Prior to joining TSPMI in 2021, he was a post-doctoral research associate at the Department of Politics and International Studies, Cambridge University. His first book, ‘Westphalia from Below’, was published by Hurst in 2021 (reviewed in Foreign Affairs, Perspective on Politics, and Peace & Change). Further work has been published in International Affairs, Perspectives on Politics, and Global Responsibility to Protect.
Membership of international organisations, editorial boards, international working groups, etc.
Intervention and Responsibility to Protect Working Group, British International Studies Association.
National and international awards
2021: Research Grant, Vilnius University Foundation and Marius Jakulis Jason Foundation 2020: Vice Chancellor’s Awards for Research Impact and Engagement, Cambridge University (team award; runner-up)
2018: Dissertation Completion Grant, Central European University
2018: Global Teaching Fellowship (taken at Debrecen University, Hungary)
2017: Doctoral Research Support Grant (taken at Cambridge University)
2014: Budapest Foundation Full Doctoral Scholarship
2013: Brasenose College Award, Oxford University
Conference papers
- 2023: From the Liberal International Order to the Realist International Order, West Point SOSH Seminar.
- 2023: Halting Genocide in a Post-Liberal International Order, American Political Science Association Annual Conference.
- 2023: Halting Genocide in a Post-Liberal International Order, Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference.
- 2022: International Intervention in a Post-Liberal World Order, Intervention and Responsibility to Protect (IR2P) Working Group of the British International Studies Association Annual Conference.
- 2022: Genocide Prevention in a Post-Liberal International Order, Lithuanian Political Science Association Annual Conference.
- 2022: Contesting the Responsibility to Protect, British International Studies Association Annual Conference.
Courses taught
Transformations of the Global Order
Mass Atrocities & International Intervention
Research interests
International security
Hybrid war
Causes of major war
International ethics
International intervention and Responsibility to Protect (RtoP)
Critical security studies
Genocide studies
Responsiblity to Protect
Historical international relations
Cases of war and peace
History and future of world order(s)
Conceptual history
Publications
Peak, Thomas. Westphalia from below: Humanitarian Intervention and the Myth of 1648. London: Hurst & Co., 2021.
Peak, Thomas. “Rescuing Humanitarian Intervention from Liberal Hegemony.” Global Responsibility to Protect 13, no. 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1163/1875-984X-2020X002
Peak, Thomas, Charlie Laderman, and Cecilia Jacob. “Introduction: Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect: Past, Present, and Futures.” Global Responsibility to Protect 14, no. 3 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1163/1875-984X-14030002
Peak, Thomas, Charlie Laderman, and Cecilia Jacob. “Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect: Past, Present, and Futures.” Global Responsibility to Protect 14, no. 3 (2022).
Peak, Thomas. “What a Fracturing Liberal International Order Means for Genocide Prevention.” International Affairs Blog (blog), April 13, 2023. https://medium.com/international-affairs-blog/what-a-fracturing-liberal-international-order-means-for-genocide-prevention-2360aa55755a.
Peak, Thomas. “Response to Glenda Sluga’s Review of Westphalia from Below: Humanitarian Intervention and the Myth of 1648.” Perspectives on Politics 21, no. 1 (March 2023): 340–41.
