Dr. Richard Schofield

Biography

Richard Schofield studied Geography at the Middle East School of Oriental and African Studies and the University of Durham in the early 1980s. He spent a couple of years running an oriental bookshop in London while simultaneously writing his master's thesis on the Shatt al Arab (Iran-Iraq) dispute. Later, he collaborated with Gerald Blake on a major archival research project concerning Arabian Boundaries, which facilitated his joining Durham's International Boundaries Research Unit in 1989. Richard became part of SOAS's Geography Department part-time, helping to run the Geopolitics Research Centre. He spent significant time working with government archives, compiling detailed documentary anthologies on Britain’s colonial boundaries and researching the historical aspects of live boundary cases in International Law. In 1996, Richard founded the well-rated 'Geopolitics (and International Boundaries)' journal and took a full-time position in 1997 at SOAS Geography, eventually launching a master's program in International Boundary Studies, which evolved into the current Geopolitics, Territory, and Security program at King’s. His research interests include decolonization and the unique geopolitics of island sovereignty disputes, as well as complex territorial dispute settlement. Richard has spoken to the role of political geography and social sciences in examining the treatment of international boundaries and how territorial definitions impact geopolitical dynamics, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf.

Research Interests

Experience

Courses