Eoin McNamara looking at the camera. He has short and curly dark hair. He is wearing a white shirt with a red tie and a black suit.

Eoin Micheál McNamara

Postdoctoral Fellow

Eoin Micheál McNamara is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. He previously taught extensively in International Relations at the University of Tartu in Estonia between 2013 and 2020. His main research interests include transatlantic relations, US grand strategy, NATO, transformation of war, and security in northern and eastern Europe.

He has published in the NATO Review, the Revue Militaire Suisse, the Defence Forces Review, Irish Studies in International Affairs and in edited volumes published by Routledge and Palgrave MacMillan, among other outlets. He has given evidence on security and defence policy before the Oireachtas (Parliament of Ireland) Joint Committee on European Union Affairs and has briefed the Irish Defence Forces Joint Staff and Command Course.

McNamara’s television, radio and newspaper commentary on security, defence and international affairs has featured in Finnish media including Helsingin Sanomat, Ilta-Sanomat, Yle, Svenska Yle, Kauppalehti, Aamulehti, Turun Sanomat and Hufvudstadsbladet, and globally on outlets such as BBC World, the Times of London, the New York Times, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, El Pais, Euronews, the Voice of America, Al-Jazeera, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the Irish Times, the Irish Independent  and Ireland’s national broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).

He has previously been awarded visiting research fellowships at the Institute of International Relations (IIR) in Prague, Czech Republic (2019); at the Centre for War Studies (CWS), University of Southern Denmark (2020); and at FIIA (2021-22).

Degrees

PhD in political science, University of Tartu (awarded May 2025)

MSc in security studies, University College London, 2011

MA in European Union – Russia studies, University of Tartu, 2011

BA international (Hons.) in history and politics, University College Dublin (year three at University of Bergen), 2009

Language skills
English, Irish (Estonian, German)
Work experience

University Teaching Experience

Foreign Policy Analysis (Convening Lecturer, University of Tartu, 2017/2018; 2018/2019; 2019/2020) 6 ECTS

US Foreign Policy (Convening Lecturer, University of Tartu, 2019/2020) 6 ECTS

EU in International Politics (Convening Lecturer, University of Tartu, 2017/2018) 6 ECTS

EU Security Policy (Convening Lecturer, University of Tartu, 2016/2017; 2018/2019) 6ECTS

Transatlantic Relations (Convening Lecturer, University of Tartu, 2013/2014; 2014/2015) 6 ECTS

Security and Insecurity in South-East Asia (Convening Lecturer, University of Tartu, 2013/2014) 6ECTS

Security Challenges in the Asia-Pacific (Co-Convened with Prof. Eiki Berg, University of Tartu, 2019/2020) 6ECTS

Alliances in International Politics (Convening Lecturer, University of Tartu, 2016/2017; 2019/2020) 3ECTS

Power in International Politics (Convening Lecturer, University of Tartu, 2016/2017; 2018/2019) 6ECTS 

International Conflicts (Convening Lecturer, Estonian School of Diplomacy, 2015/2016) 3ECTS


All publications

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