Dr. Ayşe Zarakol

Biography

Ayşe Zarakol is a Professor of International Relations at the University of Cambridge and a Politics Fellow at Emmanuel College. She hails from Istanbul, Turkey, and pursued her undergraduate studies at Middlebury College in Vermont, focusing on Political Science and Classical Studies. Zarakol completed her graduate degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning both a Master's degree and a PhD in Political Science. Her research lies at the intersection of historical sociology and International Relations, with a particular focus on East-West relations, the history and future of world orders, and conceptualizations of modernity and sovereignty. She has published widely in prestigious journals, including the American Political Science Review and International Organization, and authored the book 'Defeat: How the East Learned to Live with the West' published by Cambridge University Press in 2011. Zarakol's recent work discusses alternative global histories of International Relations and re-theorizes sovereignty from a global perspective. Over her career, she has received numerous awards for her contributions, including the Rahmi Koç Medal for Science in 2023. Zarakol is also a Fellow of the British Academy and Academia Europea and currently serves as an Associate Editor for International Organization.

Research Interests