James D. Boys, MA, PhD, is the Director of the Postgraduate Program in International Relations at Richmond, the American International University in London. He is a Visiting Fellow at the University of North Dakota’s Human Rights and Genocide Studies Centre and a consulting Professor with Syracuse University in London.

Born in Warwickshire in 1970, he read American Studies, History and Politics and graduated with Honours from Leicester University in 1996. Having gained an unconditional offer he took up a Masters’ Degree at the Institute of United States Studies at the University of London. Here he read American Foreign Policy, National Security Studies and Political Philosophy. After three years in industry in that climaxed in a role in the Wall Street district of Manhattan, he took up an offer of a research position at Birmingham University in 2001. He researched the evolution and execution of U.S. foreign policy under the Clinton Administration. Having met President Clinton whilst working on Capitol Hill, his research built upon work conducted at the IUSS that had introduced him to such luminaries as Arthur Schlesinger and Margaret Thatcher. His PhD research led to interviews with Tony Lake, Robert Reich, Sidney Blumenthal and Al Gore.

He began lecturing at Birmingham University in 2003, leading courses in American Politics and History, a role he would hold until the completion of his doctorate in 2006. During this time he held posts at the University of Gloucester, where he helped teach American Civil War History; at Leicester University, where he was invited to lead a final year course examining American Foreign Policy during the Cold War and at De Montfort University, where he delivered a second year module on US Foreign Policy. Following a spell with Syracuse University in London, he was invited to deliver a course on globalisation at Richmond, the American International University in London beginning in January 2006. Following the successful delivery of this course he was appointed Assistant Professor of International Politics in the fall of 2006. In 2009 he was appointed Director of the Postgraduate Program in International Relations.

Dr. Boys’ work straddles history, politics and international relations, examining politics as history and history as politics. These issues have been considered in much of his work, which sees an attempt to engage in a multi-disciplinary approach, blending history and politics with a personal insight into political and historical developments. His work seeks to challenge prevailing doctrines and the concept of pre-determinism in history. He is a regular contributor to television and radio on issues pertaining to issues of American politics and international affairs, appearing on Press TV, the BBC, Sky News and Al Jazeera.

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