My research agenda lies at the intersection of political philosophy, International Relations, Classical and Byzantine intellectual history, and contemporary ethics. A central concern informing my work is the relevance of pre-modern philosophical and political traditions to contemporary questions of political authority, ethical responsibility, international order, and the exercise of power. I am particularly interested in bringing intellectual traditions that are not always sufficiently represented in contemporary political theory into dialogue with modern approaches to political and international affairs. One important cluster of this research concerns the ethical foundations of political leadership. I am co-editing the volume Ethical Leadership in Political Theory: Authority and Legitimacy Across Cultures and Traditions (under contract with Edinburgh University Press). This interdisciplinary project integrates insights from International Political Theory, Political Philosophy, Intellectual History, International Relations and Literature to examine the ethical foundations of leadership in an era marked by global crises, moral dilemmas in governance, and the erosion of trust in political authority. At a time when leadership failures (whether in international conflicts, democratic backsliding, or ethical lapses in decision-making) dominate public discourse, this volume addresses a pressing need for nuanced reflections on the moral motives that should guide leaders, drawing on diverse traditions to inform contemporary challenges in Comparative Political Theory and Leadership theories. Specifically, I am contributing the Introduction and an individual chapter examining the political and ethical thought of Confucius, Patriarch Photios, and Niccolò Machiavelli. The chapter explores converging conceptions of political authority, emphasizing common (but also diverging) perceptions among these philosophers regarding the sources through which leaders acquire moral legitimacy, and the relationship between political government and the people. By bringing Chinese, Byzantine, and Renaissance political thought into conversation, I seek to illuminate both the diversity of historical approaches to ethical leadership and the enduring tensions between morality, political necessity, and the responsible exercise of power. The volume is expected to be released in 2028.
A second strand of my research focuses on the ethics of war, political violence, and the theoretical foundations of international order. With this in mind, I am editing the volume Philosophical Perspectives on Judgment and Responsibility (under contract with PalGrave MacMillan/Springer Books). Drawing on diverse traditions (from Ancient Greek and Byzantine thought to Islamic ethics, Russian philosophy, and contemporary phenomenology, this work sheds light on questions of moral responsibility and judgment during war-time. I am contributing both the Introduction and a chapter examining Simone Weil in relation to neorealist International Relations theory and the tragic vision of Aeschylus. This research explores the relationship between political necessity, the realities of power, violence, and the ethical limitations of human agency. In particular, it brings Weil’s reflections on force and human vulnerability into dialogue with the structural understanding of international politics associated with neorealism, while drawing on Aeschylean tragedy to investigate the moral and political consequences of violence in the context of humanitarian intervention. The broader objective is to develop an interdisciplinary (but very timely) perspective on the ethics of war that connects classical literature, modern political philosophy, and contemporary International Political Theory, while reconsidering the relationship between strategic necessity and ethical restraint. Much like the Ethical Leadership volume, this one is expected to be released in 2028.
A third major project is currently under preparation: Brill’s Companion to Simone Weil’s Reception of Classical Antiquity. This edited companion examining the importance of ancient Greek literature, philosophy, and intellectual traditions for Simone Weil’s philosophical development and reception; it bring together Classical Reception, Continental Philosophy, and Political Theology while exploring how Weil used ancient concepts to understand modern crises such as violence, totalitarianism, war, and uprootedness. More specifically, the volume seeks to explore the depth of Weil’s engagement with classical antiquity and the ways in which ancient thought informs her reflections on justice, force, necessity, human vulnerability, and political responsibility. My own contribution is a chapter examining Weil’s philosophy in relation to Artificial Intelligence. This chapter brings Weil’s philosophical understanding of human agency, attention, responsibility, and the relationship between human beings and the world into conversation with contemporary debates concerning artificial intelligence. It considers the philosophical and ethical challenges raised by technological developments, particularly with regard to human judgment, responsibility, and the boundaries of technological mediation. Through this contribution, I aim to demonstrate the continuing relevance of Weil’s philosophical thought to emerging questions in technology ethics, while extending the contemporary reception of her work beyond its more established political, religious, and philosophical contexts. All these three volumes bring together highly established scholars from across the world.
Alongside these projects, I am developing a new idea for a second research monograph at the intersection of Classical Political Thought, Byzantine Intellectual History, and International Relations. The project investigates the contribution of pre-modern Mediterranean and Byzantine political and ethical traditions to contemporary understandings of international anarchy, political restraint, diplomacy, and international order. In particular, it seeks to establish a dialogue between ancient ethical and political thought, historical experiences of diplomacy and inter-polity relations, and contemporary realist approaches to International Relations. Rather than treating international order exclusively through the conceptual frameworks of modern international political theory, the monograph explores the theoretical resources offered by pre-modern conceptions of political community, necessity, ethical restraint, and political responsibility. Its broader ambition is to contribute to the development of International Political Theory through the recovery and critical reassessment of classical and Byzantine intellectual traditions. Taken together, these projects reflect a sustained research interest in the relationship between ethics and political necessity, the historical foundations of political order, and the continuing relevance of classical and pre-modern thought to contemporary political and international challenges.