Bio
Hartmut Mayer is Steven Muller Chair
Academic Director, Master of Arts in Global Risk at SAIS Europe
Professor Mayer was Fellow and Tutor in Politics (International Relations), St. Peter's College, University of Oxford (2002-2025) and has held visiting professorships at the University of Hamburg and GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies (2011-2014), Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo (2010); Wiener Ansprach Visiting Professor at Universite Libre de Bruxelles (2014), and OXPO Visiting Professor at Science Po, Paris (2014). He has also held research positions at the European University Institute, Florence; UPI, Helsinki; SWP, Berlin; JSPS Fellow at Waseda University, Tokyo (2006-07) and at SAIS Johns Hopkins, Bologna. Since 1997 Mayer is Region Head Europe at Oxford Analytica, a political and economic consultancy firm. Prior to his academic career, more than 10 years as a journalist, among others with
DIE ZET,
Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the German Press Agency. Professor Mayer was Director, European Studies Centre, University of Oxford, St. Antony's College (2017-2022), Acting Director, EUROPAEUM (2017-2020), Executive Chair, EUROPAEUM (2020-2024), and a member of the Oxford University Board of Alumni Relations. He received his D.Phil. (i.e. PhD) in International Relations, University of Oxford (St. Antony's College); M.Phil. in International Relations, Cambridge University (Gonville and Caius College); M.A.L.D., Fetcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University; and (Zwischenpruefung) Freie Universität Berlin.
Professor Mayer has written articles in various journals such as
South African Journal of International Affairs, Journal of European Integration, and
International Affairs.
Courses
- Foreign Policy Analysis
This course aims both to introduce the subject of Foreign Policy Analysis to those who have not studied it before, and to allow those with some existing familiarity the opportunity to develop their understanding to an advanced level, and in particular to apply concepts to the countries and cases of their choice. It should also provide a good foundation for those intending to write their dissertations on any aspect of foreign policy or of decision-making. In making agency its main concern it provides an essential complement to courses in International Relations (usually the majority) which focus on structural or system-wide features. (T&H)
- Europe in the World
The course offers both a general introduction and a more in-depth approach to the way in which the European Union (EU) acts in international relations. It is meant to provide a balanced analysis of all the main issues involved inside as well as outside Europe proper, and to stimulate the students to address specific themes while giving them a flavor of how policy is actually made in Brussels.
- Risk in International Politics and Economics
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the challenge of understanding risk in international political and economic relations. We will study the nature of global risks, the methods on how to assess them and the challenge of formulating responses to them. We will also have the chance to introduce the practical side of political risk analysis by practitioners (guest lectures) and through concrete class exercises. Students will have to tackle ‘how’ we understand and ‘what’ we understand at the same time. Along the way, they will have to consider those things we cannot understand or anticipate with any meaningful degree of precision. As decision-makers in politics and business do, the students will have to deal with the ‘uncertainty’ that lies beyond the boundaries of ‘risk’. The subject matter is, for good or bad, open-ended. Virtually every aspect of politics or economics can be cast in terms of risk and uncertainty, no matter whether we look to the future or reflect upon the past. Therefore, the course builds on a thematically structured, case study approach. Each week introduces a new principle or policy area that is useful in understanding risk; each week provides cases that illustrate the usefulness of those principles. The ultimate goal is to be able to analyze matters of risk and uncertainty as they manifest around decisions taken by leaders in government or business in the real world.
