糖心TV

Dr Trevor McCrisken Associate Professor of US Politics and International Studies, Dr Alexander Smith Assistant Professor in Sociology, Dr Ben Margulies Research Fellow in the Politics and International Studies and Dr Georg Lofflmann, Teaching Fellow in the Politics and International Studies give their expert insights into the marathon presidential campaigns culminating in today's vote.

, Associate Professor, US Politics and International Studies, is making a number of media appearances this week, covering the US Presidential Election.

Pre-election

Dr McCrisken was interviewed on Monday on the Trish and Jo Breakfast Show on BBC Coventry & 糖心TVshire Radio. You can listen at the following link: . The interview starts at the 1h19m mark.

Henry Riley of the RAW Speech Department interviewed Trevor McCrisken to get his academic view on the US Election:

On election day, Trevor appeared on , being interviewed by Shiulie Ghosh:

Post-election

Dr McCrisken appeared on Al Jazeera following Donald Trump's victory:

Another appearence on TRT World, followed:

PAIS Teaching Fellow has had an article published in Critical Studies on Terrorism. The paper is co-authored with Raquel da Silva, a colleague from the University of Birmingham, and it contributes to current debates about everyday narratives of security.

Specifically, the article explores how members of the public answer the question ‘Why do British citizens join the conflict in Syria’ on social media sites and in response to online news articles. The authors argue that online comments are important in producing the discursive environment for making sense of British foreign fighters and what should be done in response to them.

One of the major findings is that there is a tendency to view British foreign fighters as being purely motivated by religion, and there is also a belief that British foreign fighters should be responded to through exceptional measures.

The paper discusses the implications of such perceptions, and the authors highlight how problematic misconceptions about Islam and Muslims are not just disseminated through elite and media discourse, but through everyday narratives published by members of the public online.

The article can be viewed at

 Annie Machon

“MI5: Spies, Lies and Whistle-blowers"

Thursday 3rd November

5.15 in OC1.05 – Oculus - New Teaching Building

As a former intelligence officer with MI5, Annie Machon has a rare perspective on the inner workings of governments, intelligence agencies and the media, as well as the wider implications of calls for increased openness and accountability in public and private sectors. In her lecture, Annie will consider the place of Whistle-blowers and explore the tensions between democracy, security and intelligence.

, Associate Professor in PAIS, recently gave evidence to the parliament of the Spanish region of Extremadura based on his research on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - published most recently as a book with and an article in .

Speaking via videolink to the special committee investigating the effects of TTIP for the region of Extremadura, he stressed that the economic benefits of the agreement were overblown, that the agreement was unlikely to lead to the protection of the region's denominations of origin in the US and that its likely effects were predominantly to encourage subtle deregulation.

To see a video of the session (with Gabriel's intervention starting around 2:05:33), follow this link: (in Spanish)