Ksenia Wesolowska

Since about 2011, my research interests have been concentrated on the Middle East, with a specific focus on exploring the various dimensions of international mediation, negotiation, and diplomatic practices related to the Arab-Israeli conflict and US foreign policy during the Cold War era. In essence, I’m interested in analysing the environment of conflict management in ways crucial to our understanding of not only how the conflicts have ended, but also under what circumstances the agreements have been achieved. 

My current research focuses on both historical and contemporary regions of intelligence, with a particular emphasis on the Eastern bloc's operations in the Middle East. I examine the interplay between secret intelligence studies, including processes and methods, espionage, and international history. I am in the process of writing a book that evaluates and assesses KGB operations in Turkey during the 1970s and 1980s.

I hold a BA in International Relations, a MA in Diplomacy and a PhD in International History from University of Nottingham.

@KseniaWes 

Expertise:

• Eastern bloc's secret intelligence 
• 20th century Eastern Europe 
• International Conflict Resolution
• Arab-Israeli Dispute
• US Foreign Policy 
• International History in the twentieth century
• Global Cold War

Postgraduate supervision:

I welcome postgraduate supervision in any areas of secret intelligence, Cold War Eastern bloc, Eastern Europe, conflict resolution, particularly international mediation; diplomatic practice; the Arab-Israeli conflict; US foreign policy in the Cold War era.

Teaching:

Undergraduate:

V1726/V1727 Classified: Spying on the World from 1945 to the Present 

V1398/V1705 US Foreign Policy, 1945-1989 

V1398/V1406 Cold War Europe, 1945-1991

V1320/V1407 Bombers and Mash: Britain and the Home Front, 1939-1945 

V1217 Modern Europe 

V1103 History 1B 

Postgraduate:

V1996 Conflict Resolution in the Arab-Israeli Dispute, 1947 – 1979 

V1993 Evolution of Diplomacy 

V1994 Embassies in Crisis 

V1933 Research Skills and Methods for Diplomacy and International Security - PGT core class 

L2963 Contemporary Security Challenges and Responses

At postgraduate level I convene and teach classes on the MSc in Diplomacy and International Security programme. 

My teaching reflects my interdisciplinary research interests in international relations, diplomacy and international history since the Second World War and the broader subject of secret intelligence, and conflict resolution, particularly international mediation. 

Research:

I am currently working on a book exploring Soviet Bloc’s operations in Turkey in the 1970s and 1980s when the East European case officers ran a string of agents inside Turkey’s security and counter-intelligence establishments. Their key aim was to work out and divulge the structure, organization, staffing, and working methods of the intelligence agencies in Turkey, their impact on the socialist countries, and the country’s connection with other NATO partners. This book, utilizing the hitherto unexploited primary material pertinent to the Soviet Bloc’s operations, fills a gap in literature extending our understanding of Turkey’s Cold War through the Eastern Bloc lenses. 

The key focus of my first monograph was the field of conflict mediation, by evaluating the effectiveness of the process of concession-hunting yet still supporting the analysis with the assessment of its context. In terms of the context, the book deepened our understanding of the US foreign policy in the Arab-Israeli dispute and Henry Kissinger’s role as a mediator. Essentially, it explores the US mediation strategies applied during the Egyptian-Israeli conflict in the period of 1973-1975. It focused on the US role in bringing Egypt and Israel towards a settlement from the October War to the brink of the Camp David settlement. The centrepiece of the book was the mediation efforts during the Presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Visited archives:

• National Archives at College Park, MD.
• Gerald Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, MI.
• Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, CA.
• Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, GA. 
• Archives of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Poland.
• Institute of National Remembrance, Warsaw, Poland.
• The National Archives, Kew, UK.

Invited talks: 

09/2022                       ‘Palestinian – Israeli peace process and the Human Rights’ – RoundTable talk for the United Nations House Scotland (UNHS)

Selected conference papers:  

07/2022                       ‘The recruitment and secret operations of the Bulgarian and Polish “illegals” in Turkey’ - International Intelligence History Association, Akademie für Politische Buildung, Tutzing, Germany.

 04/2022                       ‘East European secret intelligence and Turkey’s Cold War’ – British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies Conference, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

09/2019                       ‘Kissinger-Rogers bureaucratic rivalry and US foreign policy towards the Arab-Israeli peace process.’ – Annual British International History Group Conference, University of Lancaster, Lancaster, UK.

05/2018                       ‘Mediation as the “global moral beacon’s” tool in establishing the American Century – The United States and the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1973.’ – International History and Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century, Rothermere American Institute, Oxford University, Oxford, UK.

09/2016                       ‘The reassessment policy: a comparative analysis between Ford’s and Obama’s reassessment of the US – Israeli relationship’ - 50th International Conference on American Foreign Policy, University of Bath, Bath, UK.

07/2016                       ‘Mediating America’s interests: the US peace process and the October War’ - HOTCUS Annual Conference, Middleburg, the Netherlands.

09/2015                       ‘U.S. interventionism in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Concession- hunting procedure and the management of multiple parties: an attempt that failed?’ – ‘BISA US Foreign Policy Working Group’, City London University, London, UK.

09/2014                       ‘The origin of the US dominating position in the Arab-Israeli peace process’ – US Foreign Policy Conference 2014, London School of Economics, London, UK.

04/2014                       ‘The United States and the Arab-Israeli conflict: the Rogers Plan – A Failure or Success of Mediation?’ – 59^th BAAS Annual Conference, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.

10/2012                       ‘Interpretations of mediation – towards a definition’ – 8^th International Conference of World Mediation Forum, Valencia, Spain.

07/2012                       ‘Games of Peace’ – poster presented at the final of Vitae Midlands Hub Postgraduate Research Exhibition, Coventry, UK.