Role
Eszter Simon is a Senior Lecturer in Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations. Her main research interests are the Moscow-Washington hotline, crisis communication, risk of war measures, nuclear risk reduction, Cold-War superpower relations, trust in Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations, theories foreign policy decision-making, populist foreign policy, and Hungarian foreign policy.
She is the module leader for the following modules:
- Understanding Foreign Policy (second-year undergraduate)
- Policy in Focus (postgraduate)
- Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, and Security (postgraduate).
She regularly contributes to the second-year Careers and Experience in Politics and Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations module and acts as placement advisors for students on this module.
Career overview
She earned her first degree in American Studies with specializations in Political Theory and European Politics from the University of Szeged in Hungary.
She holds an MA degree in Political Science (Central European University, 2002) and a PhD in Political Science (Central European University, 2008) She previously worked for the University of Birmingham (UK), Comenius University (Slovakia), Economics University in Bratislava (Slovakia), the University of Szeged, and Masaryk University (Czech Republic).
She was a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at Southern Polytechnic State University (now Kennesaw State University) in 2010-2011.
She has also done substantial work on issues relating to teaching and learning Politics and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2013. She was the NTU principal investigator for the Erasmus+ consortium grant .
Research areas
Dr Simon's main research interests are:
- international crisis communications
- foreign policy decision-making
- nuclear risk-reduction and risk of war measures
- Hungarian foreign and domestic policy
- trust and distrust in Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations
Dr Simon is happy to supervise doctoral students in any areas of her expertise.
She currently supervises the following PhD candidates:
- Ben Seymour - Populism, Prospect Theory and Crises: Explaining Turkey’s Foreign Policy to Syria in the era of the AK Party
She has acted as an Examiner for the following projects:
- The Intersection of Counter-Terrorism, Migration and Border Control Policies in the European Union: The Securitisation of Migration? Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé, March 2022.
External activity
Dr Simon has acted as reviewer for the following journals:
- Foreign Policy Analysis
- Ethnopolitics
- Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Journal for Academic Development
- British Journal of Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations
- Europe-Asia Studies
She is a member of the following associations and research networks:
- British Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Studies Association (BISA)
- Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Studies Association (ISA)
- Trust in Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations (TRIR) research network
Current and previous collaborators include:
- András Bozóki (Central European University)
- John Ishiyama (University of North Texas)
- Gabriela Pleschová (Comenius University)
- Agnes Simon (Comenius University)
- Mátyás Szabó (Central European University)
Publications
Dr Simons most recent publications are:
, (with Agnes Simon), 2024, Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations, online first.
, (with Gabriela Pleschová), 2022, in G. Pleschová, China in Central Europe, pp.128-145, Edward Elgar.
, (with Agnes Simon), 2020, Journal of Global Security Studies, online first.
, (with András Bozóki), 2019, pp. 221-247, in: Sabrina Ramet and Christine M. Hassenstab (eds.), Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Press expertise
- Hungarian foreign policy and domestic politics
- Face-to-face diplomacy, including summitry
- Role of trust in Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Relations
- crisis communication
Dr Simon has written pieces for UK and international media outlets and has been interviewed on radio:
. The Conversation, 14 January 2025.
The five EU countries whose imports from Russia have increased since the invasion (backgrounder). The Telegraph, February 21, 2023.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and Hungary’s continuing dance between East and West. Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé Expert blog, March 2, 2022.
The New Statesman, July 17, 2018
The Trump-Putin summit in Hamburg and the importance of trust among leaders. ‘Good Morning Scotland,’ live commentary, BBC Radio Scotland, July 8, 2017.
Fortune.com, July 7, 2017
The Conversation, February 14, 2017