John de Bhal is a postdoctoral research associate in the Reimagining World Order (RWO) research community. As part of the RWO, de Bhal helps organize the annual conference, co-hosts the community’s eponymous podcast, and will be one of the co-instructors for the “Theories of International Order” seminar offered in spring semester.

His research examines how weaker actors shape, modify and transform the constitutive categories that structure international orders. His work draws on a range of emblematic historical case studies to theorize the specific strategies weaker actors use to alter international orders — and their constitutive categories — in ways that are congenial to their goals. His broader research interests sit at the intersection of international relations (IR) theory, historical IR and the evolution of modern international order.

de Bhal is currently working on a book manuscript based on his doctoral thesis. Originally from Brisbane, Australia, he completed his graduate studies at the University of Oxford.