Winners of 2019 Deidre and Paul Malone Prize announced

Joshua Goldstein and Mikael Naghizadeh have been jointly awarded the 2019 Deidre and Paul Malone Prize.

Mr Goldstein’s MPhil thesis, ‘Who Takes Whose Cues? Public Opinion and National Security Experts in U.S. National Security Policy’, examined how public opinion is treated by the USA’s National Security Council staff. His DPhil research in DPIR aims to evaluate the type of problem democracies face from influence operations and explore the USA’s potential defence mechanisms.

In his MPhil thesis, ‘Governance, Disorder, and the Islamic Courts: Explaining the Rise of Militant Islamism among the Somali’, Mr Naghizadeh developed a framework to explain how rebel groups adopt ideologies and how groups like al-Shabaab came to prominence. His doctoral research looks at Islamist insurgencies in the Middle East.

The Malone Prize in International Relations was established by Dr David Malone in honour of his parents and is awarded annually. The Prize recognises outstanding achievement in the MPhil, including the MPhil thesis. Eligibility is limited to MPhil candidates who intend to continue to the doctoral study, as the quality of the recipient’s doctoral proposal is taken into consideration.