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Dr Kamil Zwolski

PhD, SFHEA

Associate Professor

Research interests

European security integration
European-Russian relations
Geopolitics of European security

More research

Accepting applications from PhD students.

Connect with Kamil

Email: K.M.Zwolski@soton.ac.uk

Tel: +44 23 8059 3668

Google Scholar

ORCID

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About

Dr. Kamil Zwolski is Jean Monnet Professor of European Security and Director of the Centre for Comprehensive European Security at the University of Southampton. He is an Associate Professor of International Politics, known for his expertise in European and international security. In addition to his research leadership, Dr. Zwolski is a passionate teacher recognized as a National Teaching Fellow and a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, reflecting his commitment to excellence in higher education.

Research Focus and Contributions

Dr. Zwolski’s research examines the evolving landscape of European security and geopolitics. He focuses on European security integration and the European Union’s role as an international security actor, as well as European-Russian relations and the strategic dynamics of Central and Eastern Europe. In 2024, he established the Centre for Comprehensive European Security with support from a European Union grant, creating a platform for comprehensive research and collaboration on these issues. Under his leadership, this centre has become a hub for scholars and practitioners, fostering new insights into Europe’s security challenges.

Dr. Zwolski has published three peer-reviewed books on European security (in 2013, 2018, and 2024). His latest book, Researching European Security Integration (2024), challenges conventional approaches to studying European security and proposes innovative perspectives for the next generation of scholars. In addition to his books, he has written 15 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, including contributions to the prestigious Journal of Common Market Studies (2014 and 2016).

His scholarship and education excellence has been recognised and supported by three major European Union grants – he has held a Jean Monnet Chair, led a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, and developed a Jean Monnet teaching module. Dr. Zwolski collaborates with leading think tanks (including the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Chatham House) and frequently delivers keynote addresses and provides expert commentary, effectively bridging academic research with public policy debates.

Teaching Innovation and Excellence

Dr. Zwolski is known for his innovative teaching methods and dedication to student engagement. He incorporates active learning techniques and gamification into his courses to bring complex international politics concepts to life. He champions student–staff partnerships and takes a creative approach to curriculum design at the programme level, ensuring that learning is interactive and student-centered. Colleagues and students alike recognize him for pioneering modern pedagogy and continually improving the student experience.

Dr. Zwolski’s excellence in teaching has been acknowledged with top honors. He led a university-wide project to enhance assessment and feedback practices, demonstrating his commitment to improving how students learn and are evaluated. In 2022, he was awarded the National Teaching Fellowship – the UK’s highest recognition for teaching excellence. He is also Senior Fellow of Advance HE, reflecting his leadership in educational practice. Over the years, he has won multiple awards at the University of Southampton – including student-nominated awards – for outstanding teaching innovation and the quality of his feedback to students. Building on his expertise, Dr. Zwolski secured a European Union Jean Monnet Module grant in 2023 to create a cutting-edge module titled “European Power and the Geopolitics of Europe and Asia,” integrating his research insights into teaching and offering students a unique perspective on global security.

Consultancy and External Engagement

Beyond his university roles, Dr. Zwolski actively serves as a consultant and advisor, sharing his expertise both in academia and in international affairs. He advises on higher education pedagogy, curriculum design, and assessment strategy, helping other institutions enhance their teaching and learning practices. In the realm of international security, he has provided policy insight on European integration and security to government bodies, including advisory work for officials in Japan and Thailand. Dr. Zwolski has also collaborated with universities in countries like Georgia, offering guidance on curriculum development and educational innovation. Additionally, he contributes to academic quality assurance through extensive service as an external examiner across UK universities.

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Research

Research interests

European security integration
European-Russian relations
Geopolitics of European security
Transatlantic relations and European security
The EU as an international security actor

Current research

Building on his EU Jean Monnet Chair (2019) and Jean Monnet Module (2023) awards, Dr Zwolski established in 2024 EU-supported Centre for Comprehensive European Security, which is unique in the UK and one of only few research and education centres of this kind in Europe. Dr Zwolski's current research revolves around the activities of the Centre, focusing in particular on the geopolitics and strategy of the EU and Centreal and Eastern Europe in the wake of Russia's aggressive foreign policy.

More broadly, Dr Zwolski's research interests revolve around the quetions tackled in his recent book, European Security in Integration Theory, and include:

Has European Security Evolved since the End of Cold War?
What if European security integration evolved along David Mitrany's functionalist blueprint?
Should the European Commission become more geopolitical?
Do we see the death of normative power Europe?
How to explain European security governance?
How to teach European security integration?

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Research groups
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Research interests
Add up to 5 research interests. The first 3 will appear in your staff profile next to your name. The full list will appear on your research page. Keep these brief and focus on the keywords people may use when searching for your work. Use a different line for each one.

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Current research
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Teaching

Dr Zwolski is an award winning teacher, National Teaching Fellow (2022) and Senior Fellow of Advance HE. He is committed to improve student learning through high-impact pedagogies including gamification, staff-student partnerships, research-informed teaching and other active-learning approaches.

In 2019, Dr Zwolski received the Southampton Students' Union Academic Award for his innovative staff-students partnership initiative, allowing students to work with staff on assessment and feedback. For this initiative, Dr Zwolski was also announced the Finalist of the 2019 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards.

As part of his Jean Monnet Chair award, Dr Zwolski began researching and popularising research-informed teaching in European Studies and International Relations. To that end, his annual Jean Monnet Workshop ‘Research-informed Teaching in EU Studies’ offers inclusive and encouraging space to exchange knowledge and best practice among EU studies teachers.

Dr Zwolski combines excellence in research and teaching. He received numerous awards for both, including most recently the EU's Jean Monnet Module award in 2023 and Jean Monnet Chair award in 2019. In 2022, Dr Zwolski received the highest UK higher education distinction, the National Teaching Fellowship award.

Modules taught:

Level 1: Introduction to International Relations (convened)
Level 2/3: European Security Governance (convened)
Level 2/3: European Power and the Geopolitics of Europe and Asia (convened)
Level 2/3: Imagining European Futures (convened)
Level 2: Contemporary Security Studies (convened)
Level 2: The Government and Politics of the European Union (convened)
Level 2: Theories of International Relations (convened)
Level 2: Issues in Contemporary History
Level 2: Issues in International Relations and Politics
Level 3: Conduct of Foreign Policy (convened)
Level 3: EU in International Relations (convened)
Level 3: European Union Simulation
Level 3: Policies and Policy-making in the European Union
Level 3: International History post 1945
Level 3: US Foreign Policy post 1945
PGT: International Relations Theories (convened)
PGT: Introduction to Security Studies (convened)
PGT: Issues in International Politics
PGT: Terrorism: Threat and Response (convened)

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Courses and modules
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External roles and responsibilities

Name: Faculty of Social Sciences (Organisational unit)

Role: Chair

Year: 2022 - 2023

Name: Public Lecture: Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Its Causes and Impact on European Security, University of Southampton

Role: Speaker

Year: 2022

Name: Invited keynote speaker at the Jean Monnet European Studies Conference at the Institute for European Studies, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Role: Speaker

Year: 2022

Name: Co-organiser: "The EU since the war in Ukraine: Still a normative power?", Workshop at the Brussels School of International Studies, Brussels, Belgium

Role: Speaker

Year: 2023

Name: Section Chair: “EU foreign and security policy, its partners and rivals in the 21st century” at the 15th Pan-European Conference on International Relations (by European International Studies Association), Athens, Greece

Role: Speaker

Year: 2022

Name: Section Chair: “European Security beyond CFSP and AFSJ” at the 14th Pan-European Conference on International Relations (by European International Studies Association), Online

Role: Speaker

Year: 2021

Name: Invited speaker at the Roundtable “The Poland-Belarus border clashes: migrant crisis or hybrid attack?”, University of South Wales, UK

Role: Speaker

Year: 2021

Name: Invited speaker at the “Water security and climate change” conference organised by the Global Counter Terrorism Council, New Delhi, India

Role: Speaker

Year: 2021

Name: Invited speaker at the “Geopolitical vaccine narratives in the Covid-19 pandemic” workshop organised by Lille Catholic University and Cardiff University

Role: Speaker

Year: 2021

Name: Invited speaker at “The EU’s foreign policy: trends and perspectives” conference organised by Beykent University, Turkey

Role: Speaker

Year: 2021

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Biography

Recently, Dr Zwolski published his 3rd book Researching European Security Integration, which challenges established ways of conducting research in this field, with the view to open up new methodological, theoretical and empirical research avenues for the benefit of the young generation of scholars in EU studies.

Dr Zwolski's previous book, European Security in Integration Theory (2018), examines federalism and functionalism – two fundamental, yet largely forgotten, theories of international integration, in the context of the war in Ukraine and contemporary European security order.

Dr Zwolski's first book, The EU as a Global Security Actor (2013, co-authored by Prof Christian Kaunert), adopts a comprehensive approach to the study of the EU’s role in international security.

Dr Zwolski also regularly publishes in peer-reviewed journals. Notably, he published on David Mitrany and contemporary European security order (JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies); power relations in the so-called communities of practice in international relations (Journal of European Integration); or how the study of the sociology of bureaucracy and bureaucratic behaviour in international relations can help to explain the EU’s international security policy (JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies).

Dr Zwolski is often invited as a contributor and keynote speaker and his research excellence in the study of European security governance has been recognised by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, who invited Southampton’s Politics and International Relations (PAIR) department to become institutional members of the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium (EUNPD).

Further to his research interests, Dr Zwolski also leads Southampton University’s efforts on teaching and learning innovation. These efforts were recognised with the UK’s most prestigious award – National Teaching Fellowship, which Dr Zwolski received in 2022. Among other achievements, Dr Zwolski also received the 2015 Vice-Chancellor’s Teaching Award for introducing online simulation to the teaching and assessment of his International Relations Theory module.

In 2019, Dr Zwolski received the Southampton Students' Union Academic Award for his innovative staff-students partnership initiative, allowing students to work with staff on assessment and feedback. For this initiative, Kamil was also announced the Finalist of the 2019 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards.

In 2022, Dr Zwolski was invited by the University's Vice-President (Education & Student Experience) to lead on a University-wide project UoS Assessessment, gathering student views on assessment throughout the university, building on his earlier Student Partnership project.

Prizes

2022 National Teaching Fellow awarded by Advance HE (2022)
Jean Monnet Chair awarded by the European Union (2019)
Jean Monnet Module awarded by the European Union (2023)
2022 National Teaching Fellow awarded by Advance HE (2022)
Jean Monnet Chair awarded by the European Union (2019)
Jean Monnet Module awarded by the European Union (2023)

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Prizes
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Edit your staff profile

Dr Kamil Zwolski

Research interests

About

Research Focus and Contributions

Teaching Innovation and Excellence

Consultancy and External Engagement

Research

Research interests

Current research

Publications

Supervision

Current PhD Students

Teaching

External roles and responsibilities

Biography

Prizes