Maximilian Terhalle

Biography

Born in Frankfurt/Main (Germany), Maximilian Terhalle studied International Relations, Modern History, International Law, Classics, Middle East Politics and Arabic in London, Berlin, Cairo, Freiburg and Bonn (DPhil 2006).

After working for the German Council on Foreign Affairs and the Department of Defense in Berlin (2005-2007), he crossed the Atlantic in 2007 and became a post-doctoral fellow at Cornell University (2007-2008), funded by a two-year grant from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation (Germany). During the second year of his scholarship, he conducted research at Yale University’s International Security Studies Program (2008-2009). At the same time, Maximilian taught at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) – and did so again in 2009. During his second year at Yale (2009-2010) he held a teaching position at the Political Science Department and was invited to become a fellow of Pierson College. Previously he had taught at Potsdam University (Germany).

Maximilian has published in Security Studies, Review of International Studies, International Affairs, Middle East Journal, Middle East Policy Journal as well as the Times Literary Supplement. His doctoral thesis was published in 2009 by Boehlau Press (Cologne). His written commentaries and analyses have appeared in international newspapers like the Financial Times Germany, Neue Zuercher Zeitung and Die Welt.

His main research interests in international politics and history are as follows: the theoretical concept and the formal and informal practice of great-power management and its evolution, 1763-2010; the notions of order, power, change and operational practices. Obviously, this connects him to the English School of International Relations which he attempts to link to work in American IR theory both on neorealist unipolarity and, conversely, liberal institutionalism / enmeshment.
Furthermore, having spent a year in the Middle East with a view on ‘the’ world from a different angle, he is particularly interested in the international politics of the Gulf region as well as European foreign policy with a focus on Germany (hence his interest in FPA). Last but not least, the writings of thinkers as divergent as Isaiah Berlin, Carl Schmitt, Max Weber, Ernst Troeltsch, Michael Oakeshott and Friedrich von Gentz, Thomas Hobbes and Thucydides caught Maximilian’s interest quite some time ago, however, he is far from having grasped everything they contemplated about.

In all of this, predicated on a problem-driven approach, Maximilian is fascinated by the shifting dynamics and composition of international politics since the 1970s which have gradually become more prominent since 1991 – an evolution, centering around China and India, which has presented several political, conceptual and theoretical, if highly interesting, challenges. Russia, Brazil and South Africa might be considered additional features of this phenomenon which will, sooner or later, force many Western theorists to carefully reconsider the universal validity of their own perspectives and underlying beliefs while not dispensing with the core of their convictions. Moreover, while the discernment of patterns in politics is the undisputed key to any understanding of the broader questions framing single developments, the existence of irregularities, disruptions, reversals, accidents and the sheer simultaneity of political currents, if theoretically difficult to identify, has appealed to him ever since he has become interested in the dialectics between conflict and cooperation underlying the res publica. Constructively and disturbingly at the same time, this is accompanied by a long-standing interest in the tension between academic pursuits, on the one hand, and international state practice, on the other hand. Lastly, the unwavering tension between discord and collaboration has not merely sparked off his academic interests but has also informed his practical commitment as a reserve officer.

Campus address: 115 Prospect St., Rosenkranz Hall
Email: maximilian.terhalle@yale.edu